Thread by @TimeOutLondon

Today the NHS turns 73 🎉

We look back at the London-based frontline heroes who have been keeping us safe during the pandemic

#NHSBirthday

timeout.com/london/things-…

⭐ The Covid ward nurse ⭐

'At 1am I called to ask how a patient was. They said his breathing wasn’t good and he’d likely not last the next 24 hours. You know when you wish you could have done more? He passed away about half an hour after I called. It broke me'

⭐ The firefighter delivering PPE ⭐

'I got a text message from my previous boss from when I was a station commander. He said: ‘Winston, we need your special set of skills. A minute later I replied saying: ‘I’m ready to start now''

⭐ The Deliveroo rider ⭐

'At one point, I was out delivering during the NHS clap and the people on the street ended up clapping for me. I was riding down the street and they started shouting ‘Go on, Deliveroo!’'

⭐ The TfL worker ⭐

'We don’t really have a rush hour anymore. It’s slightly busier in the mornings because we feed four major hospitals – Guy’s, St Thomas’, King’s and Whitechapel – so we get a lot of NHS workers coming through. But it’s nothing like the past'

⭐ The pharmacist ⭐

'My branch doesn’t normally close for lunch but right now we do. We call it ‘close for lunch’ but it’s actually ‘close to clean’ because in that hour we wipe down all the surfaces in the pharmacy, on the healthcare counter, the card readers, all the screens'

⭐ The supermarket worker ⭐

'The thing I was most surprised to see people stockpiling was toilet roll. So many things we don’t sell a lot of usually were all gone. It was ridiculous. They bought everything – goose fat, tins of potatoes, tins of chickpeas – everything was gone'

⭐ The St John Ambulance volunteer ⭐

'This is the longest continuous deployment as a volunteer that myself and my colleagues have ever taken. For St John Ambulance, it’s the biggest deployment that we’ve taken since World War Two, I believe'

⭐ The Covid ward doctor ⭐

'There’s been a lot of praise for frontline healthcare workers. When I wasn’t working, I’d be out there clapping on Thursdays. I’ve got a drum I’d take out on the street for an ad hoc jam session with my neighbours. I was clapping for my colleagues'

⭐ The food bank volunteer ⭐

'There was a massive issue with lots of kids who normally had free school meals. Their schools closed and their parents were trying to work from home and look after children, and they were having to give them lunch. It caused chaos'