1 For A Quid or 5 For A Tenner : )

Helllooo everyone!

I have been in the gym AGAIN today ... i know i know!! I am awesome. ; ) .... kiddin, just kiddin!
Thank you again for reading and supporting me, your comments mean the world to me. : )
Another look at posts coming soon:

• Hospital Memories


• 'Music 4 Life' - charity concert


• CF and friendships


• Cystic Fibrosis

On with the post ....

My second home is Boothall Children’s Hospital; the usual accommodation being Ward 14. The nurses do a great job but also in the long run become your friends too. Offering support, guidance and a good ole’ chat when you have to stay in.
I’m not sure whether you know but for alot of CF’s when they come in for IV’s they have to stay on the ward for their full 2 weeks; sometimes 3 week course of IV's!
Not leaving there cubicle because people with CF can’t mix due to cross-infection. When i used to stay on the ward, there were four of us that were always in at the same time: Alethia, Jamie, Me and Joe.
Without fail, i’d be in the cubicle facing Joe Geeling ... a pain in the bum! :D

He purposely played his music too loud because he knew it did my head in.
He liked rap and to be honest, i’m not the greatest fan of it! So he’d play it full blast, his door open, smiling at me from the other room.

Cross-Infection is a huge thing on the ward. It’s like the unwritten number one rule; not to mix!
Joe took no notice of this ‘rule’ and often used to waltz into my room, taking something that belonged to me with him.
He’d shout, “Come and get it if you want it!”
He knew i was a ‘goody two shoes’ and would NEVER walk into his cubicle.
One day, he took my phone; i had to get that back and he knew i’d have to. So he stood by the nurse’s call button ready to press as soon as i walked through his door so i’d get into trouble.
I walked to my door and stood and looked at him for a while; the big huge smirk across his face infuriated me! I raised my arm and i ... pushed MY nurse’s button first!
She came up and told Joe about the consequences of mixing with another CF and that it wasn’t good to take things without permission; she continued to say, “And do your physio Joe!”

That was often echoed through the ward frequently : )
He was the cheeky little brother who was always on the wind-up ... but he was lovely; he meant no harm whatsoever.

At Boothall, just outside of our ward there are some huge trees and they used to have conkors fall off them and the nurses used to take me and Joe conkor picking (i assure you, this was alot of fun when you had nothing else to do!)
So in a single file line, Joe at the front, the student nurse in the middle and me having to trail 5 steps behind (cross-infection, we’d go to the large trees and pick conkors : )
One day, i didn’t go because a friend from school was coming to see me; this did not go down well with Joe atall! He mithered the hell out of us all day until a student convinced him to go conkor picking. Joe came back with rubber glove after rubber glove of conkors! (the gloves the nurses and doctors use in hospitals)
He knocked on my door and offered me and Jess an ultimatum; we could buy ‘1 for a quid or five for a tenner!’
Either way not buying any wasn’t an option with Joe.
I bought 1 for a quid while Jess bought 5 for a tenner, yes i repeat that’s 10 pound (£10) !!!
That day he made a new best friend in Jessica and whenever she rang my room; he’d be stood at my door offering her some more conkors for a tenner. He never failed to put a smile on my face. : )

I remember his mum, dad, brother and grandma going to see him every so often but he loved playing on the playstation on the ward so he rarely saw his visitors.
He’d ring me alot at night, when it was dark and the ward was at its quietest. He’d ring and sometimes we’d sit in silence having nothing to say, but that was alright.
He’d just say, “Soph?” every once in a while to make sure i was still there. Then when he was tired enough to sleep, he’d say, “night and bless” and i’d reply, “Sweet dreams”
Then the phone would go dead.

He was a refreshing lad who made time on the ward fun and filled with laughter. He was the type of person who you needed to be around when you were feeling down, he’d make you smile.

Then one day, a month away from going in for IV’s, i sat watching Granada news. I then heard something that shocked me and really upset me.
A picture of Joe was shown on the television screen. The reporters words were, “Boy of eleven murdered by fellow pupil!”
I remember sitting there speechless as my mum said, “You know him don’t you?”
I did know him, i knew him very well. Gutted, was a good word to describe one of the things i felt. Really gutted! No-one deserves to end their life that way but Joe! Joe Geeling the prankster of the ward?!?!
The one who had the CF battle on his hands had been killed by an older pupil for no reason whatsoever. No other reason except the boy wanted to play god i suppose.
I was sickened as they explained every detail as to how he was murdered. Without thinking i pictured it all in my head. Tears filled my eyes. I was honestly, devastated!
This was a friend i understood completely, who i had spent every hour of the two weeks on the ward getting to know him, 3 years of friendship just taken away never to be continued.

My emotions shocked me that day because granted i wasn’t family nor was i a close childhood friend, but i was a fellow patient who had the pleasure of knowing and forming a friendship with a lovely, kind and funny young man. A lad who already had enough to deal with on a day-to-day basis; without someone putting his life into their own hands. The way in which he was so brutally killed was heartbreaking. I never admitted it because i thought it was selfish of me to feel this way as i wasn’t close to Joe like a best friend was, like his brother or mother was. I just had a bond with him because we knew what each other was going through. It had a HUGE effect on me.
To know he wasn’t going to blurring his music out at 11pm on the ward anymore, to not have him offer me 1 for a quid or 5 for a tenner. There would be no late phone calls till he’d felt tired enough to sleep. The ward was always going to be at it’s quietest without Joe.
I was going to miss that little brother kid!

Months passed, years infact and still to this day i often think about Joe, just for a split second and i always think, “what would he of been doing with his life right now?”
I know that he is looking down and more than likely thinking, ‘what a girl!’ (Joe’s favourite insult).
Most of all, i know he is happily breathing easy watching over the ones he loves. Watching his doting parents and admiring all the charity work they do for CF Trust and Boothall Hospital. It makes me happy to know that he is no longer having to fight, he is in a better place than the world we live in.

My auntie bought a CD that was made in memory of Joe. All money went to The Joe Geeling Trust. A charity that then splits the profits between CF Trust and Boothall. He’d be proud of that.

When i dream of Joe, which isn’t often ... just sometimes, i hear his voice clearly and his laugh. It’s usually in the past when he was upto his old tricks. That’s how i remember Joe. My friend. My Special Friend.

I miss you Joe! Breathe Easy Now <3

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Labels: Boothall , charity , friendship , funny. , Joe , laughter , memories , nurses