Westminster attack victims reunited with the team that cared for them
Westminster attack victims reunited with the team that cared for them
18 July 2017
Cara and Stephen Lockwood were visiting London to celebrate Stephen’s 40th birthday when they were struck by the attacker’s car. Although Cara escaped with bruises and a twisted ankle, Stephen received injuries to his face, chest and leg, requiring a four hour operation and a lengthy, ongoing rehabilitation process.
The ‘reflective pause’ event, held at the nearby Hilton Metropole and funded by Imperial Health Charity, allowed staff to meet them again and discuss the incident in a calm, supportive environment.
Shehan Hettiaratchy, Trauma Lead at the Trust, believes taking the time to do this is an important process.
“We’ve got really dedicated staff here who work really hard for our patients. Normally we don’t see what an amazing impact we, as an organisation, have on their lives and how grateful they are for that and that’s really important.”
“We heard from staff members that have never had a patient say thank you to them for all their hard work and I think actually it’s good for our staff and it’s good for our patients to have that opportunity.”
For Stephen and Cara, who are still feeling the impact of the attack every day, being able to speak with those involved in their care and thank them in person was something that they were both keen to do.
“It was quite a humbling experience,” said Stephen. “We don’t consider ourselves important people but when people tell you that your feedback is important, that’s really nice.”
“It was productive for us and part of our healing process and it’s important to give something back because the hospital gave us so much. The attack happened and they would have been affected by it like anybody would, but then they had to do a job on top of that; it really is incredible.”
Cara agrees, adding: “For me, I think it was really helpful, I think I managed to say to people how I felt and what I’ve been wanting to say since this whole thing happened.”
“I hope they all took something from it, I hope it gave them a bit of warmth in their heart. They’re doing a brilliant job. They’re not machines, they’re human beings and there is a lot of care that goes into it and they should really be proud of themselves.”
The couple’s ordeal was documented in the first episode of the second series of BBC’s Hospital where we see Shehan operate on Stephen, repairing a broken tibia and fibula and a deep cut to his leg. Stephen remained critically ill for days afterwards and we follow his recovery while Cara waits by his side.
The episode also showed the compassion and hard work put in by the staff throughout A&E as even those who weren’t working that day came in make sure patients had the best care possible.
Although such dedication from Trust staff is the norm, Shehan says that events like this can help remind them not to only focus on their patients.
“The best thing for me that Cara and Stephen said to us was that we need to look after ourselves and that’s really important for our staff to go away and think about. We need to make time for ourselves, our families, friends and colleagues.”
