Cormack was born at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in 2002 and has been treated there for his whole life. We found out more about Cormack’s journey from patient to volunteer to member of staff, and his gratitude to those who have helped him along the way.
Early days
Close to midnight on New Year’s Eve 2001, Cormack’s mum Fiona was taken by ambulance to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital with suspected appendicitis. She was 33 weeks pregnant and was rushed to the labour ward where Cormack was born – the first baby of 2002.
After spending almost four weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Cormack was allowed to go home. He was a bit slow to meet his milestones, but that was put down initially to prematurity and he was given physiotherapy. When he was about two and a half, a brain scan revealed that Cormack had cerebral palsy and it became clear why he had struggled to progress.
Cormack became a regular at physiotherapy, wearing gaiters and doing exercises twice a day. When he was three, he had serial casting, which stretched the muscles in his calves by putting both legs in plaster. Six months later he was fitted for specially made splints, which were moulded from casts to fit his legs perfectly. At the time, he was watching caterpillars turn into butterflies at nursery, so when offered a choice of patterns he picked pink butterflies for his splints, with matching pink butterfly trainers in which he finally learnt to walk.
Treatment continued for many years, including more serial casting and a transformational operation that meant he spent his 10th birthday in a wheelchair. Recovery was painful and hard, but Cormack took it all in his stride, quickly mastering the use of the wheelchair.
Now a fit 22-year-old, Cormack still wears splints and remains immensely grateful to the team of physiotherapists and orthotists who have looked after him. His only complaint is the heat – with his lower legs encased in plastic and long socks, walking around can be very tiring, especially in the summer. Cormack is still learning to look after his feet. He explains, ‘I let Mummy know if anything starts to get a bit uncomfortable and I keep seeing my lovely physio, Anne McNee. I always see her round the hospital and she says “How are your splints? Is there anything I can do to help?”’
Becoming a volunteer
Because his brother was a student at Queensmill College, Cormack heard about Project SEARCH, an internship for young adults with learning difficulties run in partnership with Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. ‘I know this hospital really, really well and I’m a really fit guy,’ he says. ‘So I started in the inpatient pharmacy as an intern. They’ve got two huge robots in the pharmacy and my job was to stock the shelves.
They have a little scanner, like in a supermarket. You just scan the barcode and put the medication down flat, and the robot does everything else. And they liked the way I work, so after a few months they employed me for three days a week. It was the first money I ever earned and I’ve saved it all up.’
Cormack built lasting friendships with his pharmacy colleagues but still wanted to do something useful on the days he wasn’t working with them. Josh, the job coordinator for Project SEARCH, talked to Daniella from the Volunteering Team about Cormack. The application and training process for the hospital’s Volunteering Services is thorough, with vetting and mandatory core training ranging from basic safety to working with patients who have dementia. Cormack, already experienced from helping to look after his own grandparents, was ready. He says, ‘I had to do lots of modules and fill in lots of forms. But I got there in the end – I got the purple T-shirt that all volunteers wear.’
Cormack continued to work in the pharmacy three days a week, volunteering for the other two. He was already familiar with the hospital, but his new role took him everywhere. Cormack counts his steps every day and enjoyed comparing totals with his volunteer colleagues – usually, he won.
He says, ‘I’ve done more than 1,000 hours now. My favourite thing is to see my pharmacy friends, and my friends around the hospital. It’s a really good thing to do and it gets me out of the house. I go to different departments and do different things – sometimes I do pharmacy deliveries, and I go to the X-ray department upstairs, and I push chairs and beds. Sometimes, they send me across to the shops to get things for the patients.’ Cormack enjoys chatting to the patients, and amuses his family with the lines he comes up with – ‘Hello, love – all right there? Do you want a cup of tea? Want a blanket?’.
Despite being busy in the hospital, Cormack continued exercising, building his strength and stamina. ‘I did the Thames Bridges Trek, which was 25km, with my personal trainer and she thought I did so well that she wanted to challenge me,’ he says. ‘She was doing the London to Brighton walk, which is 100km, and I did the first 56km with her.
‘I don’t think anyone with cerebral palsy has actually done that, so I think it was a brave thing to do. I raised over £1,500 for SCOPE, and my pharmacy friends were very kind to sponsor me.’ Cormack was awarded a Hammersmith and Fulham Youth Achievement Award for overcoming difficulties caused by his cerebral palsy while fundraising for charities, including walking 500 miles during December 2022 to raise money for food banks.
The new role
Eventually, funding for Cormack’s role in the pharmacy ran out. He had a serious discussion with Project SEARCH and his parents about what to do next. While the ending of his pharmacy role was sad news, Cormack was clear about his aspirations. He had already used walkie talkies as a volunteer, but now he wanted to be on the porters’ channel and he also wanted ‘a magic lift key’ – the key only porters carry to give them priority access. Thinking about these aspirations combined with his volunteering experience, becoming a hospital porter was the obvious next step.
With the support of the Volunteering Services, Cormack gained as much portering experience as possible and eventually he was offered a series of trials in the new role. ‘For the first trial I did the bloods for the third, fourth and fifth floors, went to every single ward, then I went back down to the second floor and organised the bloods – they have to go in a special place, so it’s quite tricky. Then I had the interview, just before Easter.’
On the day of the interview, Fiona waited impatiently for news. Cormack always sent her a message at lunchtime, along with a picture of his sandwich. When this arrived at the usual time she couldn’t wait any longer and texted him back asking how the interview went. She received three words in reply – ‘Got the job’ – and burst into tears.
Cormack says, ‘That’s what really surprised me – I thought they’d tell me a day or two later, but they told me in the actual interview. I felt thrilled, especially because I don’t like formal interviews.’ That evening, the family celebrated with his favourite dinner, sausages and mash.
Cormack gave the good news to his Volunteering Services colleagues. ‘Daniella, the Volunteer Manager, said, “Please don’t leave us, Cormack”. She wanted me to carry on as well as portering.’
Cormack is now officially a hospital porter two days a week, volunteering for a further three days. Daniella says, ‘Cormack is such an enthusiastic, dedicated and positive volunteer. He is fully supportive of others, and everyone in the hospital knows him as he delivers a service with a very big smile. We often get compliments from staff and patients to thank him for his hard work. And the Volunteering Services Team are now all monitoring their steps daily to be able to keep up with Cormack!’
There are still things Cormack wants to achieve with his work. ‘I want to be the postman in the hospital,’ he says. ‘I’ve seen them around so many times and I think that would be quite a nice job – as long as I can carry on being a Porter too!’ And in his current role, there are lots of development opportunities. For the time being, he is happy to be carrying ‘the magic key’. Wherever he goes next, his energy, determination and positivity will ensure that it’s a success.
As part of its Grants Programme, CW+ funds the Trust’s Volunteering Services. We are immensely grateful to Cormack and his colleagues who donate their time so generously, along with the donors who make it possible.
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