Eamonn and Ruth

EAMONN: Being ill these past couple of months with my back has made me dependent on a lot of people. Coronavirus has made us collectively dependent on those working for the National

Health Service. Not only dependent, but also, it seems, inspired, because the pandemic has created what is being called the ‘Nightingale’ effect.

Such is our admiration for the caring professions that 11,000 more people than usual have become nurses, midwives and health visitors. I salute every one of them. Part of my admiration stems from the fact that I don’t believe I would have what it takes. That so often, these are people not motivated by their pay packet, but by the difference they can make, and the help that they can give.

I sat talking to a young student nurse called Jasmine last week when I was at one of my regular appointments. I was in awe of her wide-eyed enthusiasm towards nursing. She had three years to go before she would pass all the necessary exams. I left with a spring in my step, not because of the steroid injection I just had, but because Jasmine wanted to be there and look after people who were going through a tough time. One thing is for sure, we’re all going to go through a tough time. We just don’t know it yet.

My mother is 92 years of age, frail beyond belief, yet still self-sufficient – or at least, she likes to think so. Outside family, the big differences in her life are the nurses who come to administer injections, change bandages and the like. Not only are they incredible at what they do, they are incredibly sociable. All of us should encourage and applaud people like Jasmine, and to those 11,000 other new health staff, ‘Your Country Needs You’. Thank you.

‘We should all applaud our health staff’ Eamonn