10 times we were grateful for the NHS in 2020

NHS staff have faced huge dangers and pressures in 2020, and many have made personal sacrifices.

Here are ten times we met medical staff doing brilliant things, people who had recovered, or those showing their appreciation for the NHS.

1. The Clap for Carers

On warm summer nights we stood on our drives and doorsteps, or lent out of windows, to say thank you for what the NHS was doing.

2. Arlo Clark hears for first time

This is the moment a 10-month-old boy heard his mother for the first time - after being fitted with a hearing aid at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

3. Couple able to hold hands as they say a final goodbye

A couple married for 62 years were able to say a precious final goodbye, with the help of a hospital nurse.

They were being cared for separately at Queen's Hospital Burton, until a nurse learned Marjorie Wilson was due to be discharged. There was a chance she might not see her husband again - as he had terminal cancer.

Quickly she arranged for the couple's beds to be pulled together so that they could say goodbye one final time.

4. “Don’t hate me in my hoodie”

Twenty-nine-year-old A&E doctor, Emeka Okorocha, went viral on TikTok after posting a video, pointing out how differently he's treated - depending on what he wears.

He wants everyone to be treated will equal respect - regardless of their outer appearance.

5. The DJing doctor

Kishan Bodalia only graduated from university last year, and has been working as a Junior Doctor in the respiratory wards at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton during the pandemic.

He is also an award-winning DJ and has been using his talent to boost morale with his “NHSessions” - often when he’s just returned from a shift on the wards.

6. The profoundly deaf NHS worker struggling in the pandemic

Matthew Walker is an advanced clinical practitioner, and works in the emergency department at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley.

He's profoundly deaf, and relies on seeing people's lips move to work out what they're saying, and watching their faces - to determine how they're feeling.

With everyone wearing masks - it’s made his job much more difficult

7. NHS workers on the front line reveal the effect on their mental health

Four members of staff, who've each played their part in fighting Coronavirus at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, shared the impact it's had on their mental health; their gratitude for the support from the NHS; and their hopes and fears for the future.

8. Coronavirus survivors on their second chance at life

Two Coronavirus survivors, and their husbands, took a look back at their journeys.

From the moment the ambulance arrived, to the calls saying their loved ones wouldn't make it, to the joyful reunions when they were well enough to come home.

And their eternal gratitude to the NHS.

9. A day in the life of a mental health nurse on a Covid-19 ward

Funmi Adenle’s patients often struggle to understand why they need to self-isolate, and their conditions mean they often spit or are unable to control their movements.

It’s made it a very worrying time for Funmi, who manages staff and has a young family.

10. The medic who moved into a caravan to protect his family

Jonathan Leadbeater decided to move out of the home he shares with his fiancée and young son - so he could keep treating patients with coronavirus - without putting his family's health at risk.

He lived alone in a caravan on his uncle's farm while he continued to work A&E shifts at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley.