In fact it could provide a person with compromised lung function the ability to engage with everyday activities due to its mobility.

The SimplyGo Mini Portable Oxygen Concentrator extracts oxygen from surroundings and filters it into purified oxygen allowing those using the device to breathe.

While it was currently out on loan with a member of the public, the user was very thankful she could utilise it for her day-to-day activities.

The life-changing piece of equipment from Philips Respironics was donated by Tathra Lions Ladies to the hospital, and was purchased through Linda Dodd from Capital Chemist in Merimbula.

Concentrators vary in size from large stationary units to smaller portable devices, with the donated piece of equipment on the lighter end weighing only 2.3 kilograms.

It is housed within a fashionable, brown, satchel bag, with a plan for it to be issued for short term use.

This would allow Far South Coast residents to go for day trips, attend appointments which could be near impossible without a portable machine, family events, and/or palliative care.

Kathy Dack, a member of the Tathra Lions Ladies, said the group wanted to gift a long-term piece of equipment to South East Regional Hospital which would benefit community members.

"The portable oxygen concentrator allows an individual, reliant on full time oxygen, the freedom to leave their home and have a better quality of life," she said, donating it to respiratory nurse specialist Linda Geale for use at South East Regional Hospital.