AS the NHS approaches its 75th birthday a Southport man says he believes that without its help he “wouldn’t be here today.’’
Father-of one Michael Lightfoot, who works as an Associate Director of Performance & Business Intelligence for Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, has Crohn’s disease which affects the bowels and believes he owes his life to the NHS for the care it gave him. But he also says he will never forget the “amazing’’ support he received from colleagues after collapsing while in work in 2019.
Taking up the story Michael, 39, said: “I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when I was 19 in 2002 and started working at the Trust in 2011.
“The support I received from colleagues in living and working with a long-term condition was amazing and will continuously motivate me to always try my best to contribute to improving care for our patients in whatever way I can.
“In 2019 my bowel perforated whilst working in the office at Southport and thanks to the swift response of everyone there by the end of the day I was intubated in the Intensive Care Unit after emergency surgery.
“I spent six weeks as an inpatient at Southport hospital and was supported by a number of NHS community services at home as well and the treatment I had was fantastic.
“In all honesty if it wasn’t for the NHS and the care everyone gave me, I wouldn’t be here today.
“Over the past 75 years the NHS has shown time and time again that it isn’t just an organisation. It’s a collective of people all trying to make life better for others in whatever way they can and we should all cherish it.’’