It was around two months ago – before Covid 19 transformed the life of critical care nurse Lee.
When the crisis first arose, Lee’s 16-year-old daughter was living with him and her mum, who is also a critical care nurse at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
But the couple took an early decision to send her away to live with her grown-up older sister to reduce any chance of exposing her to the virus.
t has also meant the 49-year-old has been unable to visit his 18-month-old granddaughter, or his grown-up son.
They are not the only frontline nurses to do the same – and many are currently living in hospital accommodation at the DRI so that they do not pass anything on to vulnerable loved ones, during a period of which Lee says he has never seen the like of before. It has brought colleagues to tears, and seen valued colleagues lose their lives, but has finally started to see the number of patients on Doncaster’s critical care ward fall.
Lee is the lead nurse in critical care in the DRI, and one of many spending International Nurses Day last week on the NHS frontline in what he says is an unprecendented time in his 30 year career since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Lee always wanted to work in a hospital. His sister worked in a pharmacy, and he decided he wanted to be a nurse aged 16. He has been working at the DRI since 2001. Although his training was across all aspects of nursing, it was critical care worked that fascinated him.
Read the full story by clicking here [Doncaster Free Press].