I would like to share this story about William Patrick Smith (known to us as Bill), who lived in Halewood.
Apollo Care started caring for Bill and his wife, Ruth, in August 2016 and we still care for Ruth at present- she is a wonderful lady 🙂
We provided four calls each day and every call was an utter pleasure.
When I arrived at Bill’s for the morning call he would have tea and toast waiting for me before I started my working day (I will never forget this as long as I live!) on lunch calls he would have me a wrapped sandwich to take with me.
Bill was 92 years of age and literally was the most independent man I have ever met, every evening call he would have the fire on and a cuppa ready for me.
After I had finished all my care duties I would make sure that Bill and Ruth were comfortably settled in bed before going to complete my evening log sheet and when I opened up the file to update it I would come across a sweet that Bill would have put in there for me- how sweet is that please? ????
Each evening they had a one hour call to make sure they both had an evening supper and their medication and that they were safe in their home for the night. Well it almost always took two hours! Bill used to tell me about the war ship he was on back in 1942- the Nova Scotia. He would inspire me with all the stories and I would sit and listen to these amazing true stories and for that he deserves his memory to live on and people should hear about his bravery and service to our country….
Bill was a baker on the ship. His best mate was a South African lad who was also a baker. They were split up and put on opposite shifts because they were always messing about. His mate was in the galley working when the first torpedo hit the ship and was killed right away. Bill swam in the most scariest ocean, sharks had been seen eating bodies there, there was blood everywhere.
Bill swam for his life for two hours and eventually managed to get on a floating piece of wood with one other guy. He also pulled an Italian prisoner of war out of sea to safety.
They could not go to sleep as people were fighting to get on anything that floated to get away from the sharks. People were killing each other to get to safety.
They were in the water for almost two days before being picked up by a rescue ship.
After Bill was rescued he was taken to Durban hospital. After he was discharged he boarded a ship and sailed back to England. He then signed up on another merchant navy ship and carried on throughout the war.
Bill is pictured in the main picture at the top of this post in the bottom row, wearing the hat….. amazing man I’d say, so proud to have known him ❤️
Below is Bill when he was younger, Bill sadly passed away in August 2018 and we miss him dearly. He will truly be remembered by Apollo Care East Liverpool and all of our staff as our HERO.
