Grace Mitchell and her family were visiting Dunedin Hospital Te Puna Wai Ora – Southern Critical Care (ICU) last week to donate a special gift of three electronic tablets for patients to use.
Earlier in the year Grace spent two weeks in ICU as a patient, so it was significant for the family to return to thank the staff who cared for her, and to make a very generous donation to the unit.
Mum Jane explains that Grace thought carefully about what would have made her time as a patient easier.
“She remembered a period of time when she was conscious but still had a breathing tube so she couldn’t talk. She wanted to donate something to help others in that situation to communicate with loved ones and staff, so we came up with the idea of the tablets.”
Even the number of the room where Grace stayed – 18 – meant something to the family. Grace was only 17 years old when she was admitted to the unit with pneumonia and sepsis following a bout of flu, and Dad Logan reflects that without the care and expertise of ICU staff Grace might not have seen her 18th birthday. “It was only afterwards that it really hit us how close we came to losing her and we can’t fully express our gratitude to everyone for all you did.”
Grace and her family decided that instead of presents for her birthday she would ask for donations towards purchasing the tablets for ICU. “So these are really from all the people who know and love Grace to say thank you,” explains Logan.
Nurse Manager Carla Snow says it’s special for the staff to see Grace again, and they are delighted with the tablets. “It’s lovely to see Grace looking so well, as she was very poorly when we first met her. It’s a great reminder of why we come to work every day. Having been through that experience, Grace was able to identify that having a tablet for communication is something that will make a real difference for some of our patients, and we want to thank the whole family for their generosity.”
After a period of rehabilitation, Grace is now back to enjoying life as a typical teenager, getting her full driving licence, entering an aerobics competition, and going fruit picking in Central over the summer break. And following her experience she has a new ambition, to train as an Occupational Therapist (OT).
“I was so sick that I had to have support to do the simple day to day things like washing and getting dressed and the OTs were amazing. It was lots of little steps and they were with me for every one. It really inspired me to be able to do that for others.”
Grace starts her Occupational Therapy course next year and is looking forward to coming back to the hospital one day as a therapist rather than a patient. In the meantime, she’s already helping others with her thoughtful and generous gift. A very big thank you to Grace and her family from the staff at Te Puna Wai Ora and Health New Zealand Southern.
