Stroke victim pays tribute to carers
Bob Laws thought his life was over. Languishing in a hospital bed in Hamilton, the Cambridge man was struggling. The keen marathon runner had suffered a stroke and spent seven weeks in Waikato Hospital.
‘‘At one stage there, I didn’t think I was going to make it, I just felt so sick,’’ Laws tells
While in hospital he also developed a chest infection, bladder infection and blood poisoning.
Laws reckons what pulled him through was the support of the nursing staff at Waikato Hospital, and the support of ‘‘my angel’’, his wife Dawn who is now his carer.
‘‘They told me to remain positive and that they were going to make sure I’d be fine,’’ he said.
But his experience in hospital showed him how understaffed it was and he wanted the Government to work on putting more people into healthcare.
Laws was 76 when the stroke hit almost two years ago and apart from day surgery to remove an appendix, it was his first stay in hospital.
His recovery since has been marred by two falls at home which landed him back in hospital.
But he’s progressed from not even being able to roll over in bed, to walking laps of his front lawn each day, with the long-term goal of returning to his passion, running.
Dawn though would be happy just to see him walk again, without the assistance of his stick.
In the garage, Laws has a cycle he uses every day, too, to keep the legs moving without putting stress on his joints.
He is quite agile in a wheelchair but is certain he’ll be free from it, eventually.
In total, Laws clocked up 30 full marathons and more than 100 halfmarathons before his stroke on June 16, 2019.
Waikato Hospital’s START rehabilitation team, which helps patients move from the hospital to home, worked with Laws for six weeks after the stroke, and again after his fall at home.
Physiotherapy has continued regularly at the hospital.
Laws also joined the Cambridge Stoke Club and opted to take up extra physiotherapy with a private doctor.
‘‘But what I really want to do is say thank you to the nursing staff at Waikato Hospital.’’
He recalls a time in hospital when all he could do was vomit all day, because of blood poisoning.
‘‘I asked a nurse for a bowl ... but at that point I couldn’t control the vomit and it went all over her,’’ he said.
‘‘In 10 minutes she had a new uniform on and the room cleaned, apologising to me for not getting the bowl soon after.
‘‘She was just amazing and so professional.’’
Laws said to repay the hospital, he would like to return as a volunteer, to work with other patients who are recovering from a stroke.
‘‘From what I can see, patients get a lot of help with physical recovery but it’s often the mental recovery which missed out and is most important.’’
Laws said his months in hospital was an eye-opening experience and he witnessed a ‘‘high level of abuse’’ aimed at nursing staff from the public.
‘‘I couldn’t believe the stresses and strain the nurses are under and what they have to go through.
‘‘I remember the nurses being shortstaffed and deciding among themselves, who was going to work a double shift, and then just getting on with it.
’’I would really like to ask that the Government find some way of getting more staff, more nurses into our hospitals because sadly they are just so understaffed.’’
‘‘I couldn’t believe the stresses and strain the nurses are under and what they have to go through.’’