Student nurse seeks help for mercy trip

Stephanie Burton with some of the children she worked with during her visit to Romania with the Exodus project.

Stephanie Burton, who is now a final year nursing student at Queens University and has fought back bravely from a brain injury, is hoping to go to TimIsoara, Romania, as part of a Queens nursing team to do her elective nursing placement.

Stephanie visited the area once before under the auspices of the Exodus project when she was 16.

“I saw poverty there worse anything we might know here,” she recalled.

Stephanie Burton, centre, was inspired to take up nursing after her visit to Romania with the Exodus project.

“We supported a Roma family where a terminal illness had been diagnosed and the family was being broken up. We did our best to keep them together and used fundraised money to pay for treatments.

“It was shocking to realise how little people had. That experience helped motivate me towards a career in nursing.”

As part of the upcoming programme, Stephanie and her team hope to raise over £1,000, which will allow the team of nursing students travelling to Romania to pay for care and support in hospitals and orphanages, including food, cots, high chairs, cleaning materials and medical supplies.

To help contribute to the teams fundraising Stephanie has organised an Afternoon Tea event at Holywell Trust in Bishop Street on April 2, from 12.30pm and 3.30pm.

The afternoon will include a raffle, the prizes for which will include vouchers and edible treats, beauty and personal grooming products, and there will also be a craft and photography stall.

Stephanie will be leaving these shores for Romania on April 9.

“An experience like this reminds me to be grateful for the National Health Service.

“Sometimes we take our facilities here for granted. Sometimes we get annoyed about the long overtime and being understaffed.

My time in Romania helped open my eyes to what we have got and going back will be a great reminder of why I started this degree and career path in the first place. Come along and give your support to our afternoon tea on Saturday, April 2. We will be really thankful,” she said.