Piece for Radio Northwick Park's 2011 magazine: Arthur

For over 40 years Radio Northwick Park has brought patient broadcasting entertainment to thousands of people at Northwick Park Hospital. However, the radio station provides more than just music, it is also a patient-visiting service.

Our volunteers go to the wards not only to take song requests from patients but to speak to them. Luckily, most patients see their family or friends during the visiting hours in the evening, even if they have little contact during the day. Unfortunately, for Arthur Aplin, his family were scattered all over the globe with relatives in France and Canada.

When he suffered a stroke his daughter-in-law contacted Radio Northwick Park to ask if our volunteers could visit him once in a while and bring him a newspaper to read. We sent volunteers to visit him almost every night to speak to him and give him some company. He was even interviewed by one of our presenters.

Arthur has since recovered and left the hospital. Here is some of his interview where he wanted to raise awareness about suffering from a stroke and the help he was given.

“I’m doing pretty well. I’m impatient to make progress and getting out the people supporting me here, the nurses and the guys working on my rehabilitation. My voice needs training as well but it’s little by little, day by day.”

On the issue of regaining movement down the side of his body that was affected he said: “Try and do it yourself and try again and again, if you’re not making much progress then perhaps get a bit of help. If you can make some progress yourself if helps personally and it shows something…well, I’m stubborn.”

Arthur was unsure about whether he had had a stroke. It was only after speaking to his daughter that he called an ambulance and was told what had happened. He urges others who may be feeling uncertain may have suddenly developed limited use down one side of their body to go to hospital and get checked.

He also reflected on his stay at Northwick Park and the help he got: “It’s appreciated, the friendship and support I have received is helping me towards recovery and getting back onto a normal basis and I hope for full physical ability in my body and your support from the radio staff that have come to see me time and time again. Some people might think you’re a pest but you’re not. I have had good support and encouragement and somehow I feel that there’s going to be a lot of positive coming out of this.”

“It works against me sometimes but in the situation I think it’s in my favour that a bit of stubbornness and to think: ‘Well, I’m not going to let this beat me’”.

For more information about Radio Northwick Park visit: www.radionorthwickpark.org

Work experience

Day 3 in the humble life of a workie at the Harrow Observer and I had my first unpleasant experience.

I answered the phone to an enraged woman who became further infuriated as soon as I uttered the words “work experience”.

She lambasted me for not being a proper journalist because I wasn’t part of the National Union of Journalists. (I just haven’t got around to it yet.)

Clearly, in her world if you don’t belong to the NUJ then you’re not actually a journalist.

She then grilled me on why the NUJ didn’t train reporters properly and how people like us were allowed to man the phones.

She was about to say something about media law to which I could have responded curtly with the fact that I do have Part 1 which the NCTJ not the NUJ requires. But I thought it was best to leave it.

I swiftly passed her over to a real journalist who got an interrogation about whether his shorthand was up to scratch.

There was also something about the NUJ needing to train reporters in the Mental Health Act and unfair dismissal. (We do learn about the latter.)

When the reporter I had foisted her onto realised that she was on a pay phone, he kept her talking until the change ran out and the phone cut off.

I might hasten to add that the woman was calling to air her grievances about being illegally sectioned in a mental hospital.

So that is just another day in the life of a workie. I hate saying that I am on work experience because of the connotations that go with it.

As soon as I say that I’m on work experience I can feel the warmth fade from the voice on the other end of the line.

Suddenly, they are ten thousand levels above you and you are just amoeba to them: a barely sentient being with the IQ of minus one.

They assume you are incompetent, a liability. With PR people their schmoozy and sycophantic veneer cracks and the cynical flak emerges.

Today’s incident was mildly amusing to say the least. She was a little less rude than the agent of a now Q-list celebrity who used to host an adventure game show in the nineties. The agent’s charisma might also be the reason why this celebrity has faded into obscurity.

It’s taken a while but I’ve learnt not to take it personally. As my friend from the Indy said yesterday, you need a thick skin to survive in this industry…and a hard nose as I was told by someone before being jabbed on the nose.