Hi, This is Ciarán Griffiths and I will be reading a story by Tom Abbott, which he has contributed to Gratitude, a wonderful public art installation which commemorates and pays tribute to the incredible work of our key workers and reflects the stories and contributions of this unprecedented time.

‘ONE IN 15,000: THE VOLUNTEERS WHO HELPED OUR HEROES’ by Tom Abbott
When the NHS called on retired and former healthcare staff to return to the front line, more than 15,000 people stepped up – including Head of Network Operations at Southern Railway, Tom Abbott. Tom volunteered with the ambulance service to help those in urgent need, and even found time to get married! This is his story.

‘ONE IN 15,000: THE VOLUNTEERS WHO HELPED OUR HEROES’ by Tom Abbott

Once you’ve worked in the emergency services, you never lose your affinity with the teams you worked alongside. It’s a unique environment with a real shared sense of purpose and camaraderie.

I joined Southern Railway 18 months ago after working for the emergency services – both in the police force and ambulance service. As I still had my blue-light driving and clinical skills, the decision to volunteer for the NHS was a no-brainer – I felt really lucky to be able to put my skills to good use at a time of national crisis.

I started volunteering for the ambulance service in March 2020 and was initially driving intensive care ambulances, doing blue-light transfers for confirmed Covid-19 patients to ITU. The risk was minimal to me, but of course it does weigh on your mind that we’re transferring patients who are very, very ill or dying because they have Covid. The doctors in the ambulance with the patient, they’re the real heroes in that scenario though – they just needed a chauffeur who could drive at a decent speed!

What the experience made me was very aware. If someone tells you there’s this new disease and it’s really bad, it does kill people, you’d think, ‘I don’t want that, let’s do as we’re told’. It’s really hard to fully appreciate the impact of something until you see it; I have a far greater appreciation of just how scary it all was. I’m well aware of the skills and ability and passion of the people in the NHS, but to see that first hand, to see people keep those skills up under the most intense pressure – it showed me we’re in really good hands.

In April 2020, I returned to crewing 999 ambulances, just like I used to, responding to any and every call you can think of – from cardiac arrests, to mental health incidents and road traffic collisions. By chance, I never attended a Covid emergency, but I did attend just about everything else. Fitting in volunteering with full time work isn’t easy, but I used rest days and annual leave to fill ambulance shifts where needed. I’m lucky to have had the absolute support of Southern Railway to do this, and to still be volunteering – I’ve gone back to the police, part time.

Working as a key worker on the railway, as well as for the NHS during the pandemic, is something I’m immensely proud of. I’ve always worked in roles where you have that strong sense of camaraderie, of purpose and drive, of getting back in there, of lacing up your boots and getting going. But the unity of the resilience I’ve seen through this will stay with me forever.

Thank you for listening to this story. For more stories and information on Gratitude, please visit: www.thisisgratitude.co.uk