Volunteer Spotlight: Giving something back
8th July, 2024
Former patient and longtime volunteer Basil talks about how his experiences at Moorfields inspired him to help others.
I was born with sickle cell anaemia, a blood disorder, and I was hospitalised on and off from 19 months old onwards. In my early thirties, I had a serious bleed – a haemorrhaged retina – which was treated at Moorfields. Ten years later, the same thing happened but in the other eye, so severely that I only had a tiny pinhole of vision in that eye.
I had surgery to correct the problem at Moorfields, in Mackellar Ward, where Mr Gregor’s team operated on me. After a couple of weeks, the vision in the affected eye was already coming back. It had been a really hard time for me, so it was overwhelming suddenly being able to see well again.
I started volunteering because I wanted to give something back. The guys at the investment bank where I worked had seen me going through my surgery and wanted to help, so I found an envelope and told everyone to “just put in a penny”. By the time I went back to Moorfields for my next follow-up appointment, the envelope was pretty heavy. I took it to the Friends office to make the donation, and I asked if there was anything else I could do to give back. So I started running fundraisers at work. I arranged snooker tournaments and bowling tournaments and events.
Meanwhile I was also volunteering at the hospital. I used to walk around with a big bucket for donations, and I used to speak to the patients in clinics and just tell them about myself, and sometimes it just would be a half hour with a patient just chatting to them, telling them my story and about Friends. They were often amazed to hear that I’d had surgery on both eyes – what an encouragement for someone sitting there waiting for a clinic appointment, to see someone smiling at you, telling you they’ve had a successful surgery here.
I had to give up work suddenly at 53 when my health deteriorated. I’m a really outgoing person and work was a big part of my life so it was a big loss, but I kept up my volunteering and that helped me a lot to keep my sense of self. I’m a chatter, I’m a helper, a smiler, a positive person.
My role now is mainly marshalling and guiding. A lot of patients are sight impaired, so I’m helping them to different clinics all around the hospital – sometimes they need to go to a few different parts of the building so we’re up and down in the lifts. I usually get in early because I have to get away after a few hours to take medication. An average day is busy and challenging and I love it. I always have a smile on my face. I’ve also done fundraising at a couple of tube stations lately, which is nice in the summer months!
I recently reached my 25-year anniversary of volunteering with Friends, and I felt so proud to reach that milestone. Having been a sick child, in and out of hospital from 19 months onwards, it’s just nice to give back to something to the NHS because it’s been such a part of my life, and I love it every minute.