New firefighters realise their burning ambitions
Former textile worker was taken ill during phone consultation
TWO new full-time firefighters have joined the Leek service.
Rob Kearney and Nathan Mcgowan – both aged 34 – have joined Leek Blue Watch having been inducted as one of 20 full-time recruits who joined the organisation last month.
Rob previously worked for the Defence Fire and Rescue Service, run by the Ministry of Defence, and has nine years’ on-call experience with Shropshire Fire and Rescue.
Nathan worked as a mobile phone technician alongside his on-call role with Staffordshire Fire and Rescue – a role he was in for seven-and-a-half years.
Rob said: “During my time at the Ministry of Defence, I mainly dealt with aircraft crashes and fires, and managed to reach the position of crew manager after a period of time.
“However, despite enjoying the job, I felt like I wanted another challenge.
“I wanted something that would give me the opportunity to help more people as, thankfully, aircraft crashes aren’t regular occurrences. When I saw that there were positions at Staffordshire, I applied straight away.
“It gives me the opportunity to build on my operational experience and focus on work around prevention and protection. It also gives me the opportunity to get out into the community again – something I missed while at Cosford.
“The additional training available is also great. I can really develop here and help people who live across the county.
“Full-time firefighting is seen as the golden ticket, so I’ll continue to work hard as I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be given the opportunity. I’m now focused on getting out into the community and developing operationally. I’m really excited to get going at Blue Watch in Leek.”
Nathan said this was his third time applying as a whole time firefighter, having been on-call for a number of years.
He said: “Fortunately, it was third time lucky and I’m now incredibly excited about getting out and serving the people of this beautiful county.
“The community work is second to none in the job like this and I can’t wait to get to grips with it all.
“One thing I do want to say is how brilliant the other guys on Blue Watch have been since we arrived at Leek. They’ve been incredibly accommodating and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be here.
“Having already been on-call for seven years, I thought I knew quite a lot, but coming to Leek I realised there was still a lot to learn, but the watch are definitely showing how supportive
they are and how much help they can be.
“Having Rob with me has also helped massively. Having someone go through the exact same experience as me at the same time has been really beneficial and a great support – as we’ve been able to bounce off
each other and I’ve learnt so much already.
“The thing that’s stood out is how useful it’s been for us both to be able to reflect on the day with each other and discuss our experiences together.
“I can’t tell you how helpful that is – especially with us in a similar position both in and out of work.”
Rob said: “I couldn’t agree more with that. Everyone, from the station and crew managers to the other guys on Blue Watch, have really opened their arms to us and have made us feel incredibly welcome.
“They’ve been with us every step of the way – from getting the right kit to helping us answer any queries we might have. It’s been a breath of fresh air.
“Personally, I’ve found it’s great having Nathan by my side throughout this as well.
“He’s already got a knowledge of Staffordshire and how the organisation works, and through our training he was able to help me around headquarters and other areas – as it was completely new to me.
“It’s such a great organisation to be a part of and it’s completely exceeded my expectations.”
A RETIRED textile worker died after contracting coronavirus in hospital.
John Kidd – who was battling prostate cancer – was admitted to the Royal Stoke after falling unwell during a telephone consultation with a neurologist.
The 76-year-old, of Park Road, Leek, underwent surgery after suffering a bleed on the brain.
An inquest heard he then tested positive for Covid-19 two weeks later on January 18 and lost his fight for life on January 22.
Royal Stoke senior house officer Dr Andrew Poxon said: “A Covid-19 swab was positive on January 18. His breathing continued to deteriorate and a decision was made that he would not benefit from further escalation of care and sadly passed away.”
Mr Kidd’s daughter Deborah Sharratt said he started to be sick during a telephone call with a doctor on January 4.
In a statement, she said: “He was waiting for a telephone consultation with a neurological surgeon.
“He had some Weetabix and a cup of tea. He then started to be sick during the phone call with the doctor and the doctor told me to call 999.
“He was taken to Royal Stoke. He had suffered a bleed on the brain. We rang for numerous updates and were told he was stable.
“They were going to operate to relieve the pressure on his brain and we were later contacted again to say that had gone well.
“The hospital rang later and said he had suffered a seizure and was given medication. The doctor told us to go and visit.
“John was drowsy, but he knew we were there although he didn’t speak.
“On January 19 we received a telephone call explaining John had tested positive for Covid-19 and had been moved to a Covid ward.
“On January 22 they rang to say sadly John had passed away.”
A cause of death was provided as 1A pneumonia due to 1B Covid-19 and subdural hematoma (operated) and acute kidney injury.
North Staffordshire senior coroner Andrew Barkley recorded that Mr Kidd died of natural causes.
He said: “Sadly he tested positive for Covid-19 and pneumonia and continued to deteriorate and passed away.
“It seems more likely than not that he suffered a subdural bleed as a result of natural progression of age and frailty.”