Basil’s story - Barts Charity

"If it wasn't for the NHS, I wouldn't be here"

East Londoner Basil talks about his gratitude towards his local hospitals and why he will #WearTheBadge

  • Date: August 4, 2021

Life-saving treatment

Basil has lived in the East End of London for over 40 years. He loves the atmosphere and the diversity of our local community. Basil believes the local NHS is one of most important parts of his community. Not just because of the hospitals, but because of the many other services it provides too.

Basil has been a huge supporter of Barts Charity and East London’s NHS ever since the NHS saved his life with a quadruple heart bypass operation. He is so thankful for the care he received that he became an NHS volunteer during the Covid-19 pandemic, both at Whipps Cross Hospital and the Excel Vaccination Centre.

"If it wasn't for the NHS I wouldn’t be here today to tell the story."
Basil, St Bartholomew's Hospital patient

Volunteering in support

“The reason I became a volunteer is because the NHS had been so good to me after my operation. After the care I received, I really wanted to give something back. Whipps Cross is my local hospital and I wanted to do my bit to help.

“The work I’ve seen the NHS doing over the last year during this pandemic has been amazing. Everybody has pulled together. It has been a really big team effort to deliver vaccinations and look after the people of the community,” shared Basil.

Wearing the badge to raise awareness

Basil urges everyone who is proud of the work East London’s NHS does for the community to wear the Barts Charity badge.

“I hope everyone in East London will wear the Barts Charity badge because the charity is doing an amazing job raising money for Barts Health NHS Trust. When you wear the badge, you help raise awareness for this cause, and you’ll help our NHS do even more for our community.”

Update: Our Barts Charity badge campaign has now ended, you can explore the website to see how you can continue to support.

Keep supporting Barts Health NHS Trust

Donate

Watch Basil's story

East Londoner and former patient Basil talks about why he supports Barts Charity.