“I’d rather remember the good times than the bad, as they are what make you realise, yes, I’m making a difference to somebody’s life.” These are the words of 60 year old porter Jeff Dixon, who has worked for our organisation for almost 30 years. Jeff talks us through his career and the lessons he has learned along the way.
“Almost 29 years ago I walked through the front doors of North Tees General Hospital to start my career as a porter with the NHS.
“Accompanied only by the nerves that a new job brings, (we’ve all been there), I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. Over those years, I’ve had a lot of highs, and a lot of lows. Would I do it again if I knew then what I know now? The answer has three letters, not two. Yes, I would, because, quite simply, it’s made me the person I am today!
“The first, very harsh, lesson I learned about working in a hospital came not very long after I started. Taking a little old 92 year old lady for an x-ray in a wheelchair, there I am, grumping and griping about what a bad day I was having, it’s too hot to work, I’m fed up because I’m late for my break, you know the scenario.
Said little old lady listened to me for about three minutes, then stopped me with a simple “Oi, son! You think you’re having a bad day? Do you think I’m having a good one? You could be a lot worse off. It could be YOU in this wheelchair being pushed around. You’ve got to get to my age yet. Make the most of what you have, you only get one chance at it.”
“That’s one lesson I never forgot in a hurry!
“Over the years, I’ve had some laughs, some happy times and some sad times, too many to talk about, but it’s all been worth it.
“The patient with Downs Syndrome who insisted myself and the lad I was working with at the time went to say hello every day. A colleague brought him a present one day, a small dinky type car. The look on his face, turning to tears of happiness. You’d think he’d just scored the winning goal in the cup final! And the day that he was discharged, he was NOT going anywhere until he said goodbye & thank you to myself and my mate. He had even drawn us a “Goodbye and thank you” card on a piece of A4 paper given to him by one of the nurses.
“Those are the moments that make my job worthwhile, moments you can’t buy.
Taking the same child over and over again to theatre for operations on her hips. She’d never known anything apart from the way her condition had her. Always happy to see us. Greeted us with a cheeky smile and sometimes a “kid” joke. Lovely kid, and, yes, I do still, to this day, wonder how she fared in later life.
“The little girl who insisted we had “Trevor”, her 2ft tall cuddly dog as a porters mascot, about 20 years ago. Guess what? Trevor is still there in the x-ray porters room! I’d rather remember the good times than the bad, as they are what makes you realise, yes, I’m making a difference to somebodies life.
Long live the NHS.”
