Families lifted in cranes to see their loved ones in nursing homes

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, nursing homes all over the world had to forbid visitations from the resident’s loved ones, causing a sense of loneliness and isolation.

At the same time, many business also had to be shut down during the pandemic, due to the low demand. That was the case of the company managed by Tristan Van den Bosch, which rents raised platform cranes, normally used to clean windows or in cherry pickings. Driving by a nursing home in Antwerp, Tristan realized that those equipments, that where not being used, could serve a new purpose. “I saw someone on the street shouting to their mother, who was on a window at the second floor, and I thought: Since our business has taken a hit, we could use our equipment to raise this man to the window’s level”.

So he contacted the nursing home and put his plan into action, using his platform cranes to raise families up in the air, so they can see their loved ones. It was the first time in over a month that the residents of this nursing home got a “visit” from their families.

He then repeated the initiative in other nursing homes. Laurent Nadin, director of the Le Cinquantenaire nursing home in Brussels, explained that “unfortunately, the residents are confined to their rooms. So, today, we could offer them some comfort, by raising their families so they could see each other, which is a big help”.

Adapted from: https://www.publico.pt/2020/04/28/impar/noticia/familias-levantadas-maqu...