Hayley O’Shea is a caseworker at Day One Trauma Support. She is based at the Major Trauma Centre at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough. Here, she shares her recent experiences of supporting patients in need.
As a Day One caseworker, I support people with life-changing injuries across Middlesbrough and beyond. I work alongside NHS colleagues on the Major Trauma Ward at James Cook.
My role is to help patients and families whose lives have been turned upside down because of a catastrophic injury.
One of the ways we can help is by providing emergency funding.
Thanks to the generous donations we receive from our supporters, we’re able to help cover the unforeseen costs people face when dealing with major trauma.
Recently, I helped ensure a daughter could remain close to her 61-year-old dad. He had a serious accident at work and had been crushed by heavy materials, resulting in several broken bones. He was taken to the Major Trauma Centre. He and his immediate family lived outside of Middlesbrough, a 60-mile trip from James Cook, so we secured some emergency funding to help with travel expenses for his daughter.
This meant his daughter was able to visit and support him while in hospital. His daughter was grateful as it enabled her to visit him daily and be there for him physically and emotionally without the additional worry of the unexpected financial burden of travel costs as she had a low income, which was only made worse by the increased cost of living.
Without the support from Day One his daughter would not have been able to visit him. This would have had an impact on his emotional well-being and mental health due to him feeling isolated, eventually impacting on his recovery while in hospital. This could have also caused increased worry and stress to his daughter if she was unable to visit and support him while in hospital.
With the rising cost of living, we are seeing more and more requests come through as people struggle to cope.
The help we are able to give means so much to these people during the darkest time.
Thank you for supporting Day One. Every day I see the difference your donations make.
Thank you for helping us be there for people with life-changing injuries.