Nurse starts work at hospital where she was treated for leukaemia
A newly-qualified young nurse has begun a new job at the same hospital where she battled a deadly cancer.
Brooke Evans feared she would die after she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2013, aged 17.
But she beat the cancer after eight months of gruelling treatment and is currently in remission.
Inspired by her experience as a patient, the 22-year-old, from Redditch, Worcs, in England, qualified as a nurse this year and has gone back to work at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham – the same hospital as she was treated at.
Ms Evans has now begun work as a haematology nurse, working with patients who are being treated for the same condition as she was – and hopes her experience can give others hope.
“I can have lot of empathy and sympathy to my patients because I do understand on a personal level what they’re going through,” Ms Evans said.
“I hope that if I tell patients my story it’ll inspire them and keep them going. I hope they realise that’s it not all bad.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it, I just think about how lucky I am.”
The nurse, who is currently in remission, had to take a year off from school to have her treatment – which included eight months of intensive chemotherapy.
She began training as a nurse in 2015 at the University of Worcester and began working at the QE only a week ago.
“I came across as a troublesome teenager who was in denial about what has happening,” she added.
Ms Evans said her experience as a patient was a deciding factor in her choosing a career as a nurse.
And the 22-year-old was overwhelmed by emotion before she was due to go in to start her first shift.
“The hospital [staff] were amazing. The nurses and doctors tried their absolute best. That’s why I decided to work there, because I saw what they were doing first-hand.
“I cried the night before my first shift. It was a mixture of emotions to do with my past because at one point I didn’t know if I’d get here.
“I thought I was going to die so putting on my uniform ready to go work was a big deal,” she said.
Ms Evans said she’s already bumped into a few familiar faces in her first week.
She added: “I’m working with the same doctors that treated me and working with patients who have the same condition. At first it was weird. Sometimes I feel a little bit embarrassed.
“But it’s quite funny now to see them again, and they’re really happy to see that I’ve gone full circle.”
Ms Evan’s appointment comes a year after US two-time child cancer survivor Montana Brown made her triumphant return to the AFLAC Cancer Centre in Atlanta Georgia, where she spent so much time as a patient.
In September last year, the 24-year-old said she also hoped to use her experience as a patient to instill hope in other children fighting cancer.
– Caters
