Submitted by Jacqui
Senior Health Care Assistant
At first, the adrenaline was high as we all poured into the unknown. Each day the rules, PPE, symptoms and fatalities changed and increased. Sadness throughout the staff, supporting those who are struggling, and all in suffocating PPE, which I found unbearable most of the time…. but we have no choice, we plod on doing the best we can with all we have within us.
Families forbidden to visit (for their own safety and that of their friends, family and the public). This was what I found more upsetting by imagining it to be my daughter in one of the beds and being told I could not see her or be with her in her final days/hours.
My heart brakes for the families who have gone through this.
At work I would keep busy, but at home I have shed many tears through sadness and exhaustion. I managed to stay strong and continue my support all the way through the pandemic.
Eventually the adrenaline faded and the thought of continuing for unknown amount of months became more and more daunting. Going to work became a heavy burden in many ways, but in this job we are here for all situations and we are needed not only for our patients but also for our colleagues.
There was no light at the end of the tunnel as we worked in a psychological darkness. Then finally after just over a year…..the numbers dropped, and the light became visible.
These are memories I shall never forgot for as long as I live.
God Bless Us All
