It was the receptionist who took me seriously when I said I had a headache which turned out to be a brain haemorrhage
I’d gone to A&E in Derby, where I was staying for Christmas, with the most dreadful headache. I’d been a radiographer at St Thomas’ hospital in London for 18 years and knew something wasn’t right. It was the day after Boxing Day and there had been heavy snow so it was busy with people who had fallen over.
I was at the reception desk and I’d already been told how busy it was and asked whether it could wait until after the weekend. The receptionist who eventually booked me in reiterated how busy it was but I pleaded with her and told her I knew something wasn’t right – I didn’t get headaches. She could tell how unwell I was and booked me in.
She kept an eye on me in the waiting room and could see how much pain I was in. She kept checking where I was in the queue and made sure I was ok. She told the nurse in charge that I needed to be seen ASAP.
What none of us knew at that point was that I was having a brain haemorrhage. If she hadn’t believed me I’d probably have gone back home and would not be here today.
I never got the chance to tell her that she was perfect at her job, that she showed me care that I will never forget.
Even when I then saw the triage nurse, he made me feel like I was wasting his time and I’d got a cold and a headache. When I was waiting in the minors area she checked on me to see if I was ok. I waited another hour to see a doctor who referred me for a CT scan which showed a haemorrhage due to a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. I went for surgery at 1pm the next day.
I’ve worked in the NHS and I know how rare it is for patients to say thank you. It doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor or a receptionist, a gesture, care and compassion means an awful lot. Although I was saved by a neurosurgeon, Hillary on reception was the only one to believe me. I’ve never forgotten what she did for me.
Jane Gooch, London
A midwife picked up that my newborn baby had had a stroke after the GP had dismissed me
My newborn baby was due for a routine post-partum check. He had been twitching suspiciously, and we had been to the GP, who had dismissed us. We were so concerned about our son’s random movements and subsequent deep sleep that we took a short film of his movements. When I showed this to the midwife asking for her advice, she looked very alarmed and asked to take the film to be checked by a doctor. She came back within minutes and took us to the neonatal intensive care ward, where my son was admitted and medicated.
It was soon discovered that he had had a stroke during birth, causing the epilepsy-like twitching. The diagnosis was very difficult to come to terms with, but now, a few years on, he appears to have fully recovered, consistently scoring above average on all the many cognitive and motor checks he has undergone. He is a sunny and happy child, without a hint of his difficult start.
We will forever remember that midwife’s quick action and astuteness during those first days of his life. Had she dismissed us as the GP did, his fits would have continued and might have caused more brain damage. Her intervention and quick action allowed him to be diagnosed and medicated early on, giving him the gift of a full life, and us the immense relief of having a healthy and happy child.
Anonymous, south-east England
The care one nurse gave me and the kindness in her heart made every difference to my hospital stay
I live with a rare heart disease and have had several operations, including open heart surgery, aged nine; I now rely on a pacemaker.
I’ve spent a lot of time in and out of hospital over the years and have been treated by many medical professionals – some I have known since birth and others I have met once and never seen again. In June 2016, a mature first year nursing student looked after me and she is someone I will never forget.
She was calm and collected and so attentive to everything she was learning. She asked questions about who I was, removing the patient element and getting to know me, as a person. No matter what she was doing, she always had time. I know she had children of her own, and when she was looking after me, I feel she treated me as one of her own.
At the end of her shift, she always came to say goodbye. We shared giggles and at times I shared the sweets I had been gifted with her. Haribo hearts and cola bottles were her favourite. When in pain, she was the first by my bedside, to hold my hand and stayed until I felt better.
The afternoon I was discharged, she overheard me crying in my bed. My family weren’t there and she came in to see me. While I explained that I was happy to be going, she understood my frustration that I still had no answers. I had been in for a week and no test or procedure had revealed what was wrong with me. She drew the curtain around my bed and while I sat and cried, she cradled me in her arms.
The care she gave me and the kindness in her heart made every difference to my stay. She has two more years to go but I know that she will make the most amazing nurse.
Hannah Phillips, London
I never got the chance to thank the surgeon for saving my life. The event led to me becoming a doctor
When I was 15, I was hit by shrapnel on an army cadet training exercise. I was taken to hospital and had emergency surgery.
I never got the chance to properly thank the surgeon or his team for saving my life. I don’t remember the surgery but I do remember how kind he was in the follow-up appointments and how he laughed and joked with me. He also kept my mum from falling to pieces during the first few days after my accident.
The whole event led to many changes in my life including a career change; from wanting to join the army I decided instead to pursue a career in healthcare. It took me a while longer but I qualified as a doctor in 2008 and have subsequently developed an interest in major trauma surgery.
Alex Bell, Sheffield
I don’t know what I would have done without one nurse. Her hand in mine rescued me
I was living in the US when I sadly had a string of miscarriages. On one occasion one became complicated and I was rushed to the hospital with haemorrhaging. I had an emergency procedure in a cubicle in the emergency room – fast, with no anaesthetic.
There was a nurse who took care of me from the moment I arrived. I was hers, she told me, when she disagreed with a young medical student’s view that I could walk to the bathroom alone. She was going to keep me safe.
The procedure I underwent was quick and successful, but painful and I was terrified by the amount of blood and by the looks on the doctors’ faces. This nurse held my hand the whole way through. I don’t know what I would have done without her. I clung to her. Her hand in mine rescued me.
I never got the chance to tell her that she was perfect at her job, that she showed me care that I will never forget and that her tender kindness helped me heal.
Louise Harland, London
I’m able to deal with my mental health problems thanks to the doctor who encouraged me to get the help I needed
I was visiting my local clinic on a routine appointment to get a contraceptive device removed from my arm, when the doctor told me that she wouldn’t be able to put a new one in unless I lost some weight. I burst into tears and she immediately started comforting me as she thought I was upset about the weight comment. I told her that wasn’t it and so she asked me what was really wrong.
I poured my heart out about everything that had gone wrong for me in the last year or so: my mum dying, the crushing anxiety I was experiencing, my OCD and depression, the massive argument I’d had with my father which meant I hadn’t spoken to him for six months and so much more. She listened to me and then she cried too.
I remember thinking that if I could make a doctor cry with my story, somebody who must see and hear all kinds of things every day, then perhaps this was really bad. After I had recovered myself, she told me that I had been through a lot and that I needed to talk to someone.
Because of her I finally understood that what was happening to me was serious and that I needed help. I felt that I was authorised to go to my doctor and ask for help – she gave me the confidence to do that. I got the help I really needed – therapy and guidance – that enabled me to get my life back on track. I trained to become a teacher not long after and I now live in Beijing and work as a university lecturer there. I still have depression and the rest – I always will, but I’m able to deal with it now thanks to the help she encouraged me to get.
Lorna, Beijing
I’m so grateful to all the healthcare professionals who saved my boyfriend’s life when he tried to kill himself
Years before I would meet met him, my boyfriend tried to kill himself. I owe my most heartfelt thanks to the 999 operative who took his call, the paramedics who arrived, the nurses and doctors who treated him after he’d lost an immense amount of blood, and the team on the psychiatric ward he was then referred to.
I don’t know who they are, or how I would ever start to find the people I owe so much to. But to me, that’s the exact point. Thousands of healthcare professionals across the country work every day to support people who are going through the same struggle, and many other just as important struggles. Without these professionals, my boyfriend’s life would be just a memory.
I would like those who deal with people who may seem to have given up on themselves, to know that by not giving up on them, they make a difference beyond comprehension. Their effort and hard work during years of training, is appreciated and valued by my boyfriend and everyone who loves him. Without the dedication of those professionals, his life would have been so quickly and devastatingly thrown away.
Anonymous
- In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.
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A receptionist saved my life and other love letters to healthcare staff
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