UK HealthCare

UK Doctor, Friends Team Up to Create 'Superhero Mask Project'

of
Superhero Mask Project creation
Kelly Nelson, a former UKHC ED nurse and pediatric clinic nurse practitioner, is the group's sewing guru.
Superhero Mask Project creation

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 16, 2020) — With each passing day and each new patient who comes through the doors of the emergency department at University of Kentucky's Chandler Hospital, emergency physicians are learning more about COVID-19.

"Our best strategy to fight this virus is to prevent the spread," said Dr. Brian Adkins, a UK HealthCare emergency physician. "Kentuckians have done an outstanding job stepping up to the challenge and working together to fight the infection, but there is more that needs done."

Adkins is one of the hundreds of UKHC providers on the front lines of COVID-19. He recognizes the extraordinary response from his colleagues in the field who are responding to this crisis, including nurses, physician assistants, paramedics, EMTs, exposed clinical, administrative and custodial workers — the list goes on.

"Despite the reasonable concerns for their own well-being, all of these folks are working hard and prioritizing helping others above themselves," he said. "It is truly remarkable to see, and I am so proud to work among them."

Adkins also sees the desire to help from people outside hospital walls, including within his own circle of family and friends.

"Like so many people, I had been sitting in my house hearing tragic stories and seeing heartbreaking images from around the world," Catherine Kamei, a family friend of Adkins and his wife, Miranda, said. "I was feeling helpless, wondering how I could make a difference in some way."

Kamei came up with the idea of creating the "Superhero Mask Project" after seeing stories of health care workers asking for home-sewn masks to compensate for shortages of PPE.

"I felt this was something the whole community could get involved in," she said. "I think we all need to have a sense of purpose and connection to our fellow human beings, especially during such a dark time."

Kamei said Brian and Miranda, who is a nurse, jumped on board immediately and even invited another friend, Kelly Nelson, a former UKHC ED nurse and pediatric clinic nurse practitioner, to join in. She serves as the group's sewing guru.

The Superhero Mask Project is a volunteer-based movement. Anyone can get involved and you do not have to know how to sew to help. The group has a Facebook page with step-by-step instructional videos, downloadable designs and sewing moderators who can answer questions. They are accepting supply donations for fabric, elastic, bias tape, etc. If you do not feel comfortable sewing, you can also help by prepping, cutting or washing fabric or by chipping in money to help purchase supplies and pay for shipping.

The masks are donated to hospitals, health care workers and other vulnerable groups. Kamei said they can also help to match local resources with local needs.

"For example, we are supporting St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California," she said. "Through our group, the costume department for a ballet company, also located in Santa Monica, is now making masks for their local hospital personnel."

Since launching the Superhero Mask Project on social media three weeks ago, the group has more than 700 members and has distributed more than 600 masks throughout Kentucky — including in Lexington and Louisville — and to seven other states.

"I've found that people across the country want to help in whatever way they can," Kamei said. "The groundswell of people willing to help in the ways that they can has been inspiring."

Local businesses are also starting to jump on board. The Kentucky Castle and East End Tap and Table in downtown Lexington have partnered with The Superhero Mask Project to serve as drop-off locations.

For more information about this group and its efforts, visit the Superhero Mask Project page on Facebook.

As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.   

In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.