Wednesday 9th December 2020
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Report written by Lucy Hill
Mr R was waiting to be discharged from hospital, he was very unwell and it wasn’t likely that he would have long left. The hospital wanted to get him home as soon as possible so that he could spend whatever time he had left with his wife, J. In order to facilitate this, he needed a hospital bed and equipment in place. However, firstly he would need his old bed moved to make space for this.
Sadly, noone had been able to help out the day before, and time was of the essence. Luckily two superheroes in red t-shirts (or one blue, in this case) came to save the day, as Lucy and Michelle agreed to help out.
We arrived on our bikes to meet J (after a mission trying to find the right house on a rather complicated labyrinth of roads. J let us in, and between us we agreed to move the bed and mattress downstairs and put the side of the house, so it could be collected at some point in the future.
The bed was a big fat divan, which fortunately came into two pieces at the base. If it didn’t, there was no way we would be able to get it down the narrow stairs safely - unless we took half the bannisters down with us!
We manoeuvred our way round the right corners, and managed to get the first half of the bed down without squashing Michelle who was underneath, and without breaking anything or taking the rails and paintwork with us. Success.
The second part came down just as easily - this time Lucy was tail end, and we didn’t have the added challenge of keeping the drawers in place (the first time they kept sliding open).
The final bit was the mattress. Although it was much bigger, it was also a little bit more pliable with soft corners, and between the two of us (and J, bless her, trying to help out too) the three pieces that were once Mr R’s bed had been moved outside.
A quick re-jig, making sure that J could still get out of her house and into the garage, and the job was done. J was ever so grateful, and thanked us - ‘you are truly angels’. She even wanted to make a donation to GoodGym, which we gave her the details for.
When we arrived, J was anxious and fretting, but by the time we had left she seemed much calmer. Safe in the knowledge that the hospital equipment coming tomorrow could be put in safely, and her husband could come home to spend his final days with her and the family.
Michelle and I left feeling rewarded, and got back on our bikes to head to Chiswick. These angels had another good deed to get to!
Wed 16th Dec 2020 at 2:56pm
Well done, Lucy and Michelle!
Hounslow
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