NHS at 75: Health centre porter 'hero' Jimmy loving job at age of 86

Video report by Deborah McAleese and words by Rebecca Sayers

As the NHS celebrates its 75th birthday, one porter talks of his love for his job which he still enjoys at the age of 86.

Jimmy Chapman has been working in the NHS for 28 years. He works eight-hour shifts at the Lisburn Health Centre five days a week.

“I love working with the patients and helping them in any way that I can. I also like helping all of the staff in the help centre.”

When asked if he ever got fed up with working at his age, he immediately responded: “No. I enjoy my life working. If I wasn’t working, I wouldn’t enjoy my life. It’s the work that keeps me going.”

He proved that his work was one of the most important things to him during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he did not hesitate to head straight into work to provide his services, getting motivation from his desire to help those who needed it.

Jimmy explained: “If everyone took the attitude to stop because of Covid, then what about the patients? They had to be seen. They needed help. So, we knuckled down and people came to work to do the best they could.”

In the 2022 New Years Honours, Jimmy was awarded the British Empire Medal, proving that his positive outlook is contagious and those around him feel his passion for the job.

Colleagues to Jimmy described him as being an “NHS Hero”, who is also the most helpful and gentle man, always making them happy to be around, showing it’s not just his work ethic that is to be respected but his friendly nature.

Despite being 86-years-old and working for seven decades, he has no plans to slow down.

“I think if you haven’t got a plan in life to do something then you are already beaten. You have to keep going because when you lie down, that’s when you don’t get back up.”

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