During the darkest time of my life, I was admitted to the Middleton assessment unit at Kettering General Hospital. Sadly, my mental illness had taken over and had me wrapped in its grips. My mental health has stolen everything from me so when I woke up and was on MAU, I was gutted to still be here and have to face yet another hospital stay. My outside world is lonely, and support is minimal, and when you’ve plummeted to rock bottom time and time again and see no way out all you want is for someone to tell you it’s going to be okay, to validate you and make you feel like you aren’t alone even when you feel like you are in a room full of people. Now, I didn’t want anyone’s pity, time, or attention because I’m in a place where I question people’s intentions and my own existence. MAU is an assessment ward, and the turnover is quick, busy, and fast-paced. It’s different doctors day in day out, and I was exhausted explaining myself, and I wasn’t in a good place. Many of the staff shone during my nearly 3 weeks stay, but Emma was extra special, comforting, and beyond exceptional with me.

As a ward manager, Emma had key responsibilities and deadlines to meet, but this didn’t stop her from dedicating time, compassion, and exceptional care to myself, a 25-year-old who had been failed by the system, broken, and had little faith. Before Emma’s shift started, she’d come and say hello and check in, Emma recognized how overwhelmed I was and would take her time to explain information to me and advocate to the doctors what was happening, amongst all she had to be doing she found the time to sit with me, calm me, understand me, take me out for fresh air and she wasn’t afraid when I’d melt down. Emma has left some warmth in my heart when all I knew was cold, lonely, and bitter. It’s like she knew me better than I knew myself and I didn’t trust that she genuinely cared because my perception had been darkened but as the days went on Emma still found time for myself, still stayed later to hear me and help me, sat with me in the scariest of moments and made me know that there are people in this job for the real and right reasons, restored my faith that I’d lost in thinking that nobody cared. Emma is evidence that not all hero’s wear capes! Thank you Emma, born to be nurse, born with the warmest heart and open mind and left me knowing that in the darkest of times I can get through and someone will hold a light if I can’t, and so moving forward when I feel like I’m alone in this world I just think of what Emma did for me, the sacrifice she made to her work commitments to show up and help the crazy patient in bay 3 bed 4! And now whenever things get scary, which they do, I tell myself what Emma would say and do, and when I think the world is ending, I tell myself "it’s just a wobble and it’ll pass"- Emma’s famous words!

Whilst everybody shone during my admission, Emma left a handprint on my heart.