Callous scammers set up a fake GoFundMe page mimicking the fundraiser set up for Dublin's Rotunda Hospital.
The maternity hospital are currently crowdfunding to buy a vital piece of equipment for premature and ill newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Professor Afif EL-Khuffash, a Consultant Neonatologist at the Rotunda started the page in the hopes of raising €76,500 to buy an echocardiography machine which is used to take an ultrasound of babies’ hearts.
The hospital have an older machine but desperately need a new one as the it is not working effectively anymore.
But cruel scammers attempted to hijack their fundraiser by making a page masquerading as the hospital.
The page was reported to GoFundMe and removed before any money could be accrued.
"The page was taken down immediately," Prof El-Khuffash told Independent.ie
"We reported it to GoFundMe and they handled it. Thankfully nothing was paid into it at all."
Prof EL-Khuffash, who has worked at the maternity hospital since 2012, said he understood that HSE funding has to be split among services and asking for the public to put their hands in their pockets isn’t something new.
But he believes money should be managed more efficiently within the health system.
And he explained that if the machine isn’t updated, it can have major consequences for vulnerable babies.
He said: “How we assess heart function at the moment is slightly limited we are relying more on judgement rather than absolute numbers.
“There’s always the risk of missing something if the image quality isn’t up to standard.
“It is disappointing that we have to ask the public but this is nothing new, unfortunately."
So far, the crowdfunding page has raised a whopping €64,998 towards its goal, thanks to the generosity of the public.
Donations can be made here.
