Vincent Kelly Director of Cork Civic Trust, David Hickey, T.W. Abernethy & Sons, Iman Benhaffaf, Angie Benhaffaf, John X Miller CEO of Cork Civic Trust, Michael Mulcahy Chairman of Cork Civic Trust with Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf at the handover of the new Ford Transit van to the Benhaffaf Family
Cork Civic Trust recently led an initiative to fundraise for a new specially adapted van for Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf who are the Cork boys who were born conjoined and separated successfully by Cork born paediatrician Dr. Edward Kiely in Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. The new Ford Transit was acquired from T W Abernethy Ford dealers in Midleton and was supported by a GoFundMe page and private donations.
John X Miller CEO of Cork Civic Trust said “Cork Civic Trust is rolling out a new digital initiative in Cork called Civic Life which will give a voice to and support the 3,000 voluntary, social, civic and not for profit organisations and individuals who do such amazing work in our community and for our community. We felt that the Benhaffaf Boys and their unique story over the past eight years was worthy of support so we decided to make this our launch project for Civic Life. This new specially adapted wheelchair van will be the ‘Gateway to the World’ for the boys for their hospital appointments, school, sports and so much more that these two miracle boys have shown us all that they are capable of. Their story is one of inspiration and with the love and support of their family they have shown us what true courage and determination is all about in life. The fundraising for this van took less than three weeks which is remarkable and I thank sincerely the very generous people who supported it”.
The mother of Hassan and Hussein, Angie Benhaffaf said “I am so grateful to the people who made this happen and who supported this initiative of Cork Civic Trust. This will make such a difference to my boys and the fact that the van has a ramp for the wheelchairs will be a huge help rather than lifting the chairs in so many times a day. The boys are thrilled and so thankful to everyone”.
