Posted on 29th October 2020

Going over & above to support inspirational young woman’s dream career. 

Steve Heanaghan, Business Development Manager at Troy, was working at home one evening when by chance a story on the local ITV news caught his attention.

The appeal revealed how Samantha Bradbury, aged 23 from Leicestershire, had been born with Bloom Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that had impaired her growth.  Despite setbacks growing up, she was completing her studies at college with her heart firmly set on a career as a roadie, building sets and stages for concerts and events.  Due to Samantha’s condition she only took size 1 in a shoe and struggled to find the safety footwear required for workplace Health & Safety regulations. 

Both inspired and moved by Samantha’s plight, Steve immediately sent off an email to Central News at ITV explaining his connections within the Troy group PPE supply chain and his wish to help.  Some time later, he received an email from Central news correspondent, Philip Brewster, who was delighted with the offer and got in touch with Samantha and her mother to share the fantastic news.

“Seeing someone as inspiring and driven as Samantha on the television spurred me on to get involved.  More businesses than ever are trying to enable and encourage people of all abilities, and in this case sizes, into the workplace and as PPE products are required by law, stories like this highlight the need for suppliers to expand their ranges outside the norm.” Steve said.

Watch the full ITV segment video here by clicking on the image above

 

After consulting with his colleagues at Troy Steve began contacting the group’s various PPE suppliers and soon a flurry of solutions came in.  However, he struck gold when Larry Bate from Portwest, global PPE manufacturing company, got in touch, already having the size required within their safety shoe collection.

“I’m delighted.  Several of our loyal PPE Suppliers came forward quickly looking to help with appropriate sizing for Samantha. However, Larry at Portwest really came up trumps.  He offered her not only a choice of five different styles, but two pairs absolutely free.  It’s a true demonstration of the kindness of strangers”.

Within weeks, the infamous work shoes were delivered by Steve himself who was keen to finally meet Samantha. 

When trying on the shoes Samantha said, “I don’t have any words at this point, I’m just so happy.  I feel like I’ve been waiting my entire life for this, it’s definitely a happy, happy day … it means I can get the jobs anyone else can.  There’s no stopping me now”.

Samantha’s Mum, Fiona Bradbury, became overwhelmed with emotion.  “Throughout her life she’s had hurdles … a big heartfelt thank you to everybody, it means the world.

Everyone at Troy wishes Samantha all the best in her future career and would like to thank Larry and the team at Portwest, who made it possible for Samantha to follow her dreams.  As Marilyn Monroe once famously said, “give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world” and we are sure that Samantha will do just that.

 

 

If you have an enquiry for an item of PPE or any other product outside of a normal range, please contact your designated Business Development Manager who is always on hand to help.  Their many years of experience and vast connections within the Troy supply chain mean they can often get difficult to source products quickly #strongertogether

Posted in Corporate news, Troy insights, Uncategorised