DAD MOVED OUT FOR 3 MONTHS TO SAVE LIVES
FOR many parents the first few months of a newborn baby’s life are rarely easy.
Whether down to a plethora of anxieties or lots of sleepless nights, most parents will tell you that the first months are the hardest.
With the country in lockdown and everyone fearing for their health amidst a global pandemic, parenting has become a much more complicated job.
But for 24-year-old Jordan Williams, things became trickier still when he had to deal with both the joy of welcoming his second baby into the world and the heartbreaking decision to be separated from him during the pandemic.
Jordan has worked as a carer at Ty Mair Care Home in Llanelli for the past two years.
Along with caring for the elderly and some of the most vulnerable to the virus, Jordan made the difficult decision to leave his family and move in to the care home to safeguard his family after the outbreak reached Ty Mair.
“It was an incredibly tough decision, but the way I saw it was that’s how I could keep people safe. Me and my partner made the decision together after thinking that there was a big chance that I could catch the virus,” he said.
In order to continue caring for residents during the pandemic, Jordan moved in to a room in the care home in Felinfoel in March, just weeks after his second son Jacob was born.
“I love my job. The residents here aren’t just residents to me, they are like my family, so I wanted to keep my kids safe while I could still help the residents here through the pandemic,” added Jordan, who is also dad to threeyear-old Kayden.
Jordan said he missed his family every day and was worried his newborn son wouldn’t recognise him when they reunited.
He added: “I was really worried that I wouldn’t have that bond with him because I wasn’t there for the first couple of months.
“It was really hard, I was frightened that when I went back he would have forgotten me or he was going to cry.
“I spoke to them on the phone every day and saw him through the window but I thought that was worse, to be honest.”
Jordan lived at the care home for three months while it was going through the devastating effects of the outbreak, having lost residents to the virus.
The 24-year-old, from Cefncaeau in Llwynhendy, also contracted coronavirus himself and was isolated to a room within the care home, having colleagues drop essentials outside his door.
But after three long months he was finally reunited with both his sons and partner Sophie.
“It was just a wave of emotions. I was overjoyed and overwhelmed” he said.
“Seeing them just made me think of everything that’s been going on and it’s made me appreciate them more.”
Thankfully, Jordan said that his baby son Jacob, who is now five months old, was as happy to see his dad back.
“I was really worried but he was smiling and took a bottle from me straightaway, it was amazing.”
Now the 24-year-old carer has been recognised out of thousands of applicants in the UK for his selflessness by being given the Care Home Hero Award from national magazine the Caring Times.
But while Jordan said the recognition for his hard work “means the world”, he insisted that his colleagues also deserved praise too, a sentiment reiterated by Ty Mair Care Home’s manager Rachel Jones.
She said: “The ladies love him and he’s the first to get up and have a dance with the residents.
“I’m really glad he’s getting the recognition he deserves,” she adds.