Medical Day Unit Nurse Sophia Stuart with John Campbell and Sherryll Markie-Brookes. Thanks, Gisborne Herald for the photo.
John Campbell has been spending a lot of time in the Medical Day Unit (MDU) at Gisborne Hospital. Now he has a very comfortable chair to sit in.
“I am here every 3 weeks for 3 hours a day, 3 days in a row, I just read a book, chat with the nurses. This new chair is so comfortable now I just relax and sometimes go to sleep. The new fully adjustable chair is all thanks to powerhouse fundraiser Sherryll Markie-Brookes who gave up her hair earlier this year to raise money for the $8000 Chair.
Sherryll wanted to do something for her 65th birthday that would benefit others.
“When I heard through a friend undergoing cancer treatment that the MDU needed these chairs I thought this is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to do. I wanted to raise the money for the chairs by having my head shaved. It has given me some kind of insight as to one of the things cancer sufferers have to put up with. Our hair is our glory, it is our mane, it’s really important to us."
Sophia Stuart is one of the nurses working in MDU and works with people who are receiving chemotherapy, blood transfusions and other treatments that people don’t need to stay overnight in the hospital for. “The old chairs were a challenge for nurses and not that comfortable for the people sitting in them. These chairs move up and down, back and forth. The arms swing up and out. People can adjust the chairs with their foot or with a remote”
MDU nurse manager Sandi Hay says “Hauora Tairāwhiti had funded some of these special chairs but with so many demands on the health dollar, not all existing chairs could be replaced. Sherryll’s contribution is so special for the patients and also the staff working here.”
Sherryll is still fundraising; now for a second chair. She has a Facebook page called Shaving for a Chair for people to follow her journey and keep up-to-date about the progress she is making. To donate email sherryllmarkiebrookes@gmail.com or contact her through Facebook.