The daughter of a longtime Villages doctor who heroically treated victims in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing seven years ago is following in his footsteps to help others during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Lynda Cowin Nijensohn, 45, whose father is local orthopedic surgeon Dr. John Cowin, and her two children – 14-year-old Mariana and 12-year-old Jed – have been busy making face masks for medical personnel. The business consultant is donating the masks to help with the shortage during the Coronavirus crisis.
Cowin, who lives in Leesburg and has been practicing for 30 years in The Villages, said he and his wife, Anna Cowin – a former state senator and Lake County Schools superintendent – are quite proud of their daughter, a single mother and cancer survivor who runs the Boston Marathon every year for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
“In this time of crisis everyone wants to help,” Cowin said. “This is a way to contribute to the effort. They have made over 200 masks, which I have given to healthcare providers. I’m so proud of them.”
Cowin encouraged others who are interested in making masks for area medical providers to take at his daughter’s Face page to see what she’s accomplished and to get a copy of the pattern she’s using to create the masks. You can do that by clicking HERE.
“Many of your readers may feel threatened and would like to help in this time of crisis,” Cowin said. “This is something constructive that they would be able to do, which would help those on the front lines.”
Nijensohn said there has been a heavy demand in the Boston area for masks in hospitals and for homecare workers since the outbreak of COVID-19.
“This does not replace the N95 or regular ones but it is better than nothing at all,” she said.
Nijensohn added that all of the masks – she and her children have made more than 200 so far – are being donated to various facilities that need them.
“When people have asked to pay something, I’ve just told them to please contribute to my Dana Farber run instead,” she said of the Boston Marathon, which originally was supposed to take place on April 20. “Hopefully that will happen in September!”
