Ship Science student’s NHS Nightingale hospital volunteer experience inspires new perspective on life

St John Ambulance volunteer Mary Strutt has shared a unique insight from inside London’s NHS Nightingale hospital during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The University of Southampton Ship Science student cared for patients who had just come off of a ventilator in the temporary facility at the ExCel conference centre.

Mary says the experience has given her a new perspective on life and is encouraging people to keep together in spirit to see out the pandemic.

“When I first entered the wards it was a lot to take in,” she says. “There was a lot of beeping from the machines and the PPE was very strange to wear. You could tell just by looking at the patients that they were very unwell.

“Whilst I was prepared it was nothing like I expected. I loved talking to the patients on the ward, most of the patients in there had not seen sunlight in absolute days – they wanted to know what was going on in the world. I told them about the weather, about the leaves coming out on the trees and about my walks on my days off.”

Mary is an experienced first aider and has volunteered for St John Ambulance at various public events including marathons, sports matches and festivals since being at the University.

She spent the whole of April at NHS Nightingale London, where she supported a range of requests including hourly patient observations. She supported nurses in moving and washing patients, changing bedding, stocking equipment trollies and speaking to patients.

“I must admit at first I was very apprehensive about going on the wards,” she says. “I had never worked in a hospital environment before. When I was tired, my feet were hurting and I had marks on my face from the masks, seeing the messages from children that had been sent in of rainbows really made me smile.

“This has given me a completely different perspective on life. I am so thankful that NHS Nightingale London never reached its full capacity and has now been stepped down. I would like to thank everyone for their support. Keep it up, together we will get through this.”