A couple have found a way to hug their grandchild who they’ve missed dearly during lockdown.
Laura and Pat Fehilly, from Southampton, hadn’t seen their grandchild for 3 months because of the Coronavirus. Until, ex-chemical engineer Pat, came up with an intelligent way they can hug eachother whilst staying safe.
Pat developed a “hugging suit”.
Pat initially saw a video of an American family who made a similar suit, using common materials, which allowed people to hug without physically touching. He knew he could do better than this.
“I showed him the video and he said, ‘I think I can do something better than that’,” said Mrs Fehilly, 57.
“He had some industrial bags lying around and I had some face visors and gloves.
“He made about three prototypes until he found one that wouldn’t let any air in, it was completely sealed. He went over it with a fine tooth comb checking for any escaping air.
“We tried them on, you lie them on the floor then get in through the bottom without touching the outside then put your hands into the gloves. Our daughter who lives with us thought it was hilarious.”
The pairs daughter drove to their house later that day, expecting a meeting from a distance in their driveway. Little did she know, the suits were already made, and they were already on too by the time she got there.
Mrs Fehilly said: “She just kept saying ‘oh my God, I can’t believe you’ve done this’. She had a little cry and we hugged.
“Then we got to hug our granddaughter Peggy, she really loved it, she wasn’t scared at all.
“I couldn’t hug her for very long though because I literally couldn’t breathe. My visor steamed up so I had to hand her over to Pat and open up the air at the bottom of the suit.
“When Pat took his suit off, his hair was completely drenched – you can only hug for a few seconds before it cuts your air off.
“Our daughter later sent us a text message saying, ‘you’ve made our day’ and she was still buzzing.”
“Our five-year-old granddaughter absolutely loved it. She was calling it the ‘hugging suit’ and said she wanted glitter on it, so we’re going to have to pimp the suits for next time!”
But, the couple warned against rushing to make one. They said plastic bags you get from the supermarket are no good, and that you need industrial standard waste bags to keep them air tight.
They also bought powdered latex gloves from a food manufacturer to wear inside the outside gloves, and changed outside gloves each time it was used.
And if you’re wondering how you know it’s air tight? Use a hairdryer to feel for any leaks. And if it steams up to the extent it did for the creators, then you know it’s sealed!
