Become a hero like Jan, and give a dog a new lease of life

We would like to introduce you to Jan, a wonderful carer for Radfield Home Care Bexhill, Battle and Hastings.

Jan joined Radfield in July 2019 as a care professional, but prior to that, she worked as a PA for a large corporate company for many years.

We asked Jan to share her story and the sacrifices she is making during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jan explained, “My husband is 74 years old, with underlying health conditions, so I have to be very careful when I come home after my care calls. I have to shower and wash my clothes as soon as I arrive home, before I can even go and say hello to him. I’ve only just returned back to work, as I’ve been off for a month, with a holiday and as soon as we got home my husband became poorly, so I had to self isolate for a further 2 weeks. I know my clients like their routines and to see me regularly, so it was a bit of normality to get back to work and visit them – they were really pleased to see me back in action!”

“It’s strange because a lot of my clients don’t seem to be that concerned about Coronavirus and the pandemic we are all living through. They’re very stoic about these things, more hardened I guess, as many have lived through the war, so they don’t seem as worried as you may think about becoming poorly with the virus. They are more concerned that us as carers, are staying fit and well.”

 

We asked Jan to share any special moments during these challenging months.

“I had one very special client, who had a lovely little dog, a Papillion, called Merlin. He was 14 years old and had a heart condition that he needed to take medication for. Sadly, my client became unwell and went into hospital for a period of time. During this time, she requested that the dog was to stay at home and be looked after by carers, so a rota was put in place to feed and walk and put Merlin to bed, which went over for a lot longer than we had all anticipated.”

“After a period of time, it was clear that our clients’ needs, when she came out of hospital, were far greater than before and the decision was made by her family for her to go into residential care. However, this left one little problem – Where was Merlin going to live? So her neighbours started to ask around, to see if anyone would rehome Merlin.”

“We lost our dogs over 10 years ago to old age, and never thought we would have any more, but when my husband met Merlin, it was love at first sight and we agreed to take him in. My client was delighted and I have agreed that once the Covid-19 crisis is all over, I will take Merlin to see her in her nursing home on a regular basis. She is thrilled that he has a loving new home.”