It’s ‘the most wonderful act of kindness’ that has touched the hearts of thousands of people from across NSW.
Last month Evelyne Collins, a palliative care patient who was diagnosed with leukemia in October, was being transported to Blue Mountains Hospital in Katoomba for blood transfusions as part of her treatment.
While Evelyne, 85, was being stretchered out of her aged care facility to an ambulance vehicle, she commented to Paramedics Judy Andrews (Springwood Station) and Mike Horan (Penrith Superstation) how good it was to get a bit of fresh air. Given what Evelyne said – and that the transfer wasn’t an emergency – Judy decided to take her patient the long way to the hospital, which would therefore allow for a stop at the Blue Mountains’ famed Three Sisters viewpoint. Once there, Evelyne’s face lit up like a Christmas tree.
“She had this very happy smile on her face,” Judy said.
“I said to her, ‘Do you know where you are?’ ‘She said, ‘I came here a long, long time ago with my husband’…. and then she started to giggle.”
It’s not just Evelyne and the two paramedics who have cherished this special moment – captured in the above photograph, which has since been hung in Evelyne’s room at her nursing home.
After the photo was posted on the NSW Ambulance Facebook page, the public flooded the page with praise for the paramedics’ kind gesture.
More than 12,000 people have ‘liked’ the photo, which has also been shared nearly 1000 times. Among those who are particularly grateful is Evelyne’s daughter, Kim.
“It was the most wonderful act of kindness,” Kim said.
“I was so emotional about it, because it meant so much to us.
“She really did get a thrill out of it.”
Mike said it was a memorable moment to help brighten up Evelyne’s day.
“I’ve got a nana, and if she was in the position that Evelyne was and had to catch an ambulance, I would like to think somebody else would do this for her,” he said.
“The whole trip (before arriving at the Three Sisters), she was quite flat in her communication.
“Then when she got to the Three Sisters she was smiling and laughing… she was loving it.”