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St George’s Hero Awards

We meet some of the heroes at St George’s Hospital

Most of us know St George’s Hospital in Tooting – either through the TV show, 24 Hours in A&E, or, if you live locally, as a patient or visitor. The St George’s Hero Awards celebrate the staff and the volunteers that go above and beyond at the busy south west London hospital.

Time & Leisure headed to the awards ceremony at Wandsworth Town Hall, meeting some incredible people, from the volunteers making a hospital visit less daunting to surgeons on the front line. Among the winners were New Beginnings for Innovation of the Year, whose project aims to  improve the experience of giving birth in an operating theatre. We also heard from the winning team of the Lifesaver of the Year award, which had saved the life of a baby born more than three months prematurely. Compere for the evening was Lorraine Kelly, who gave her time as a thank you for the treatment she had received. Lorraine fell off a horse in 2012 whilst undertaking a charity event.

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She told T&L: “I had never been on a horse before and have never been on one since. Falling off would have been bad enough – but I would have just have had bruises but then it reared up, and it was like a weapon going for my leg. I was rushed to St George’s and was in theatre for four or five hours, and I was in the hospital for about a week. I was treated so well, as is everybody.”

“I have an amazing scar. As my the surgeon was so good I didn’t need a graft but it was touch and go.”

She added that the NHS is not something we should take for granted: “Many years ago, I was in Alaska and got very sick. I had pleurisy. Fortunately we were insured as the bill was thousands of pounds. They’d even charged us for cotton wool. You realise then what an asset the NHS is. There may be parts of the system that don’t work as well as we would love but the people at the coal face are phenomenal.”

The St George’s Hero Awards were hosted by St George’s Hospital Charity and sponsored by Pelican London Hotel & Residence and Yellow Brick.

(Image credits: top – Amerjit Chohan, chief executive, St George’s Hospital Charity, Lorraine Kelly, Jacqueline Totterdell, chief executive, St George’s University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust)

(Middle: Professor Asma Khalil, Inspirational Leader Award, presented by Ross Lydall, health editor & chief news correspondent at the Evening Standard)

(Below: the winning team – Lifesaver of the Year – with the parents of the baby they saved)

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