"I wasn't expecting to come into a hospital and leave with a friend" – Teen who missed school prom and family holiday due to injury praises care he received at Ysbyty Gwynedd
11 September, 2023
A teenager who missed his school prom after being hospitalised due to a football injury has thanked one member of staff at Ysbyty Gwynedd who went the extra mile for him.
As summer holidays were set to begin, Brooklyn Jones was looking forward to attending his school prom and enjoying a holiday to Tenerife. Unfortunately, his plans were turned upside down when he suffered a severe injury to his leg whilst playing football.
The 16-year-old from Gaerwen suffered a severe break to his leg that required him to be admitted to hospital and undergo an operation.
This is when he met Trauma Coordinator, Petula Rees, who he instantly struck up a friendship with.
She said: “When Brooklyn was admitted he was down for surgery straight away but unfortunately due to the number of emergency cases being admitted at that time, his operation was pushed back daily until the end of the week.
“I learnt how he would miss his school prom and he was also worrying about his holiday abroad the week after.
“He was understandably very upset and anxious around when he would receive the operation and I wanted to do something special for him.”
To help bring some comfort to Brooklyn while he waited for his operation, Petula visited him every day for a chat and their friendship began to blossom.
Brooklyn said Petula was a huge support to him throughout the week and he wanted to thank her for being there for him.
He said: “Petula was amazing, she would come down and see me every day to give me an update on when the operation is likely to happen.
“I felt like I’d made a real friend in Petula while I was in hospital, she really went the extra mile to make sure I was ok the whole time I was there.”
Towards the end of the week, Brooklyn received the news that he would be receiving his operation, the day of his school prom.
“Brooklyn was very relieved when we finally gave him the news he was going down for theatre but sadly it didn’t mean he could go home after it and needed to be in hospital for an extra night. However, that evening I went to look for the surgeon, Mr Gohl, to visit Brooklyn who was so determined to go home.
“Brooklyn made a huge effort to stand up out of bed resulting in him being able to go home. But before he did we had a little dance to mark his school prom,” added Petula.
His first check up was two weeks following his operation where he was surprised by Petula who presented him with a hamper full of sweets and treats. A few more weeks later he returned for another check up where he brought in flowers and a thank you card for Petula.
She said: “It was wonderful to see Brooklyn again, he’s doing so well after his operation and I’m sure he can’t wait to get back to playing football soon and I hope some day I can go and watch him!
“It was a pleasure to meet him, he’s such a wonderful young boy and I’m sure he will have a great future ahead of him!”