To the Editor,
It was a mid-summer’s day in 2015 that found me slumped in the front seat of my car. My forehead was bleeding badly. Then my passenger side front door opened, and a paramedic softly asked something like, “Do you know what has happened?”
Next thing I knew, a couple men in the ambulance opened the back doors, and announced that we were now at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. They made it sound like I had just arrived at a posh hotel.
Honestly, my time and experiences in the ER are mostly a blur. I remember getting stitches in my forehead.
Next stop while at NRGH was a room in the tower. There I received first-class treatment. One lady worked very hard to get rid of all the dried blood in my hair. She administered the first cup of kindness for my time at NRGH. I felt so much better with clean hair.
Then came my transfer to a transition room. It was so cheery with a big window area all across one wall. Soon I learned this is where I would be encouraged to care for myself as much as possible, yet someone was always by my bedside when I needed them.
I requested vegetarian food for my meal times. What a surprise – the meals actually tasted good. A dietician came to see if I was satisfied with the food. Another cup of kindness served so sincerely.
Then there were the extras – the dear lady who sang so beautifully every morning, as she nicely dressed a non-responsive lady each day. Never a ‘thank you’ did she receive, but she sang, anyway. What cheer this dear hospital worker daily brought to all of us in that room.
I now have a greater respect for how hard nurses and their associated personnel work at NRGH, and always with a pleasant demeanour. Keep on being efficient and kind, for it will make a positive impact on each patient there.
Think of yourselves as angels with helping hands, if you like. For you see, I believe all of you who took care of me were as angels, beginning with the paramedics, and ending with the gracious male nurse who wheeled me to the car my husband was driving to take me home, after a two-week stay at NRGH.
Looking for a cup of coffee? There are many such places. But not many places serve ‘cups of kindness’ as well as Nanaimo Regional General Hospital does. Thank you one and all.
Katherine Woods Sayles
Nanoose Bay