Having a supportive employer made all the difference for Steve Ellis when he took a call no parent ever wants to receive.
To mark Stress Awareness Month, Health & Protection has been speaking to professionals across the protection and health sectors to recount the most stressful situations they have found themselves in and how they overcame them.
Call no parent wants to take
Next up is Steve Ellis, associate director at Prosperis (pictured), who told us about a call he received while working for Premier Choice Healthcare under the leadership of Wayne Jackson.
“I’m going back for a few years,” Ellis revealed.
“I was sat in the office doing a normal day’s work in a meeting and my phone went. I ignored it.
“It went again. It was my wife. I ignored it twice because I always ignore my wife.”
But Ellis added he eventually took the call upon the advice of his office manager.
“It was about my son, who had been diagnosed with the most severe form of meningitis,” Ellis continued.
“He was in Ireland with our neighbours. We were in Yorkshire.
“We didn’t know if he was alive or dead and I could quite easily have gone into meltdown which I nearly did.”
Jackson takes charge
Thankfully for Ellis, Jackson could see his situation and knew what to do.
“Wayne completely took over the situation and he made sure I got access to the company car, ensured I was allowed to drive in Ireland and got the ferry booking – everything,” Ellis added.
“He allowed me to get things into clear perspective and then I used things like the Canada Life doctor’s line because I didn’t know what was happening there.
“I got the information from the paediatrician in County Mayo hospital and then I went through Canada Life and they told me the guy my son was with is a world-renowned best doctor so he’s getting the treatment there.
“There I was in a situation where I went from being in complete control on a normal day to something completely out of control in one phone call.”
Getting things into perspective
For Ellis, having access to the right services and someone who managed the situation perfectly made all the difference, as his stress levels “went through the roof”.
“I could have been a wreck, driving the car from Leeds to County Mayo and smashed the car up. But everything there got things into perspective and it shows having the right processes and protocols in place makes all the difference and off you go.”
And while Ellis’ son who was eight at the time, would subsequently be treated for mental health issues connected to his ordeal seven years later, Ellis revealed his son is now 25 and is “all good now”.