PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Some may take for granted the comforts of home, but under the stay-at-home order, many of us may be spending more time at home than we are used to.
So, a new HVAC system may be the perfect gift to honor a frontline hero working tirelessly to help coronavirus patients.
For Portsmouth healthcare worker Stephanie Nash and her family, and it couldn’t have come any sooner. The best part is, she’s getting it for free, courtesy of R.S. Andrews of Tidewater.
“They are excited, they are truly excited about it, they said yes, [we’re] about to get some AC,” Drue Nash of R.S. Andrews of Tidewater said. “A.R.’s has a program, numerous times throughout the year, we give to deserving families.”
Unbeknownst to Stephanie Nash, her boss at Autumn Care of Portsmouth, a health and rehabilitation center, nominated her for the gift.
She and the staff there have worked tirelessly to keep COVID-19 out of the facility.
“We’ve been blessed to not have any cases in our facility, so thank you,” Stephanie Nash said.
“she’s basically in charge of running the nurses, taking care of all the patients, and all these extra precautions she’s had to take, has kind of put a little toll on her, she’s putting everybody else first, and she hasn’t had air conditioning in a year,” Drue Nash said.
That’s right, a year without air conditioning — and it hasn’t been fun.
“Horrible. It’s been horrible. It’s been so freaking hot, especially on those hot hot days. The heat rises so it’s been super duper hot upstairs so you can’t go up there,” she said.
But it was that broken cooling system that put her over the top
“Sometime last week I found out I was nominated. I was a top-three pick and when Nate the general manager came out to assess the unit and take measurements and all that stuff, he was like I’m already gonna go ahead and tell you, you got it, and I was like ‘What?'” she said.
On Friday, Stephanie Nash got a brand new air-conditioning system, brand new furnace, everything included from top to bottom. Her children will have air conditioning.
Just in time to start the summer.
“We were blessed, basically, he blessed us. I’m so grateful,” Stephanie Nash said.
