For 22-year-old Northamptonshire Care Assistant Luke Smith-Whelan, his ideal Christmas is helping others making sure they get to spend the day with their families.
Luke will be working Christmas Day in our Patient Transport Services (PTS), ensuring patients with complex medical needs are safely transported home when they are discharged from the hospital.
He said: “Seeing the smile on the face of a grateful patient because you have been able to bring them home to be with their loved ones at Christmas makes working through it so worthwhile.
“Some of our patients are unfortunately quite unwell so this could potentially be their last Christmas so it’s important we do everything we can to ensure they get to spend it with their families.”
This is not the first time that Luke has swapped turkey and tinsel with his friends and family in order to help others. This is the second Christmas in a row that he will be with his PTS colleagues to provide outstanding care to patients who rely on us.
Before that, Luke volunteered as a member of an emergency ambulance crew with St John Ambulance Service over Christmas 2020.
He added: “I’ve been in my volunteering role with St John Ambulance for three years.
“I started off in the Badger Setts when I was a young kid 17 years ago and moved my way up to the Cadet units in my teenage years.
“It was over this period of time that I started learning first aid, basic life-support skills, health and wellbeing, personal development and social action.
“I have always wanted to work in the ambulance service and I was so pleased I was able to transfer my skills into my role in PTS such as being able to work with others, patient contact, and patient care.”
Luke plans to bring the festive cheer to work for his colleagues.
He added: “I will be bringing in a box of mince pies for the crews and will be decorating the cab of the vehicle with tinsel.”