Ashley Lawrence is a college senior from Versailles, Kentucky who, like many of us in the world, is dealing with a bit of boredom while staying at home during the COVID-19 outbreak. For weeks now, social distancing measures have been put in place that relegate people mostly to their own homes except for critical trips outside, like grocery stores or pharmacies. But it was during a bout of boredom that Ashley had an amazing idea.
Just about every country on Earth right now is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak that causes, a sometimes deadly respiratory infection. Because of this, personal protective equipment, or PPEs, are in extremely high demand. One of these being N95 surgical masks.
People have begun sewing and creating their own face masks to sell and donate. However, those masks don’t typically help those who are deaf or hearing impaired…communicate with others very well while wearing them.
So that’s where Lawrence felt she could lend a hand. For Lawrence, the issue hits close to her field of study. Currently, she studies education for the deaf and hard of hearing at Eastern Kentucky University.
“I felt like there was a huge population that was being looked over,” Lawrence said.
She added: “We’re all panicking right now and so a lot of people are just not being thought of. So, I felt like it was very important that, even at a time like this, people need to have that communication.”
Lawrence brought the idea of creating a mask that would allow the mouth to be seen while wearing it, to her mother. The two set to work crafting a surgical mask that allows others to view the wearer’s mouth. The two got crafty with items they had around the house, thus not requiring any trips outside for materials.
“We started out making them with bedsheets that we had, and luckily bed sheets are big,” Lawrence said. “So we have two or three sets so we’re making them out of that. Then, a couple months ago we needed plastic fabric for something. And so we have a whole roll of that and the window is only this big so having a whole roll is very helpful so luckily we haven’t needed any supplies yet.”
Lawrence hopes that her masks can help people who rely on lip-reading to be able to communicate more easily with each other, with medical professionals, and even with state leaders.
How awesome is this? Such a brilliant idea!