DAREDEVIL dad Shane Callaghan is preparing to jump out of a plane to say thank you to staff who have cared for his mum the past year.
Shane, from Thornton, Bradford, will take part in a skydive in Bridlington on Saturday (29 August) for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity – the charitable arm of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
He is raising money for the charity’s dedicated cancer fund, with the money going to Ward 16 at Bradford Royal Infirmary, where his mum, Tracy Callaghan, has been cared for and treated since her terminal lung cancer diagnosis in June 2019.
Shane said: “I’m a real adrenaline junkie anyway, and have always wanted to do a skydive, but this means more to me because I can do it to say thank you to all the staff on Ward 16, for everything they have done for my mum.
“They have given such fantastic support from the start and made her feel as comfortable and settled as she can. It means a lot to me to raise funds for this team, to help them continue this support other patients and families going through these tough and sad times.”
Shane, who has a six-year-old son, has taken on extreme challenges in the past, such as swimming with sharks and doing the biggest zip line in Europe. He said it was his mum’s idea for him to do the skydive, as she knew how much he wanted to do it.
Adrenaline junkie
“She knows I’m an adrenaline junkie, so she knew it was right up my street,” said Shane. “I’m so glad I can do the skydive and also raise money to say thank you.”
You can read Shane’s story and donate at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/shane-callaghan86
Ward 16 provides haematology and oncology services to patients, such as chemotherapy treatment. Bradford Hospitals’ Charity has already funded new chemotherapy chairs, a revamp of the waiting area, wall art and coffee machine, with refurbishment works ongoing.
Bradford Hospitals’ Charity’s cancer fund supports equipment, specialist training and refurbishment projects across oncology services.
Hayley Collis, head of fundraising for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, said: “Shane and his mum Tracy have been through such an incredibly difficult time that we’re overwhelmed and very grateful that he chose to raise money for our charity.
“The team on Ward 16 are an amazing group of very skilled and dedicated clinicians and health care professionals, and I know they will be incredibly grateful too. They truly care about all their patients and go that extra mile to make sure they are supported. This money will be spent on Ward 16 to enhance facilities and ensure staff can continue to provide the very best treatment and care.”
You can find out more about Bradford Hospitals’ Charity at https://bradfordhospitalscharity.org. Alternatively, if you wish to make a donation by phone or support the charity, please call the charity office on 01274 274809.
ENDS
Note to Editors:
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is one of more than 250 NHS charities based around the UK. It supports the strategic direction of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust by funding projects which go over and above what he NHS provides.
- Did you know that, together, all NHS charities give £1million every single day to the NHS!
- In 2017, a new £28million wing opened at Bradford Royal Infirmary, which was part of a £75m investment to improve patient care across our hospitals. It provides world-class facilities for the elderly, children and a brand new intensive care unit. Bradford Hospitals’ Charity provided £260,000 to enable the Trust to create family friendly environments, state-of-the-art equipment and innovative distraction toys and games for young people.
- With the support of Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, BTHFT was also able to provide more cots, including intensive care and high dependency cots, new family accommodation, a revamped counselling suite and a dedicated room for mothers to express milk for pre-term babies when the new neonatal unit opened in 2015.
For further media information, please contact Kelly Thornham, Communications Officer, at communications@bthft.nhs.uk or call 01274 382265
Note to Editors:
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for providing hospital services for the people of Bradford and communities across Yorkshire. We serve a core population of around 500,000 and provide specialist services for 1.1 million people.
Our 5,500 staff work over several sites, including Bradford Royal Infirmary, which provides the majority of inpatient services, and St Luke’s Hospital, which predominantly provides outpatient and rehabilitation services. We also manage local community hospitals at Westwood Park, Westbourne Green, and Eccleshill.
In early 2017, a new £28 million wing opened at Bradford Royal Infirmary, part of a £75m investment to improve patient care across our hospitals over a five-year period. It provides world-class facilities for elderly care, children’s services, a state-of-the-art intensive care unit with increased single-room provision and a retail concourse.
The new wing is a continuation of our work to improve patient experience after our new £2 million neonatal unit officially opened in January 2015. Our maternity services were recently shortlisted for the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Midwifery Service of the Year Award, recognising excellence and innovation in the provision of maternity care.
In 2017, we also completed a £2m refurbishment of our Emergency Department (ED) as part of an ambitious vision to create a more efficient acute medicine service for the people of Bradford. It has been designed to provide a slicker and more efficient service, with faster senior clinical involvement at an early stage in the patient pathway.
As a teaching hospital, we are at the forefront of education and development in healthcare, and have an excellent reputation for research performance. We are one of the leading centres in conducting applied research in the country, particularly in quality and safety, elderly care and rehabilitation.
The Trust is home to the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) where researchers have led the development, validation and implementation of the award-winning Bradford Electronic Frailty Index (eFI) which helps calculate an elderly person’s risk of disability, impairment, falls and complications of chronic diseases, as well as their diminishing independence and capability. This is now being used by 98% of all GPs across the country.
Our award-winning Ophthalmology department is home to numerous worldwide clinical trials taking the lead in eye care research and we are one of only three sites in the United Kingdom to be enlisted in the Perioperative Enhanced Recovery Hip Fracture Care of Patients with Dementia (PERFECTED) study, which will investigate how the NHS can introduce better standards of care to improve outcomes for people with dementia.