Birmingham nurses speak Welsh to soothe Swansea boy

A mother has thanked a student nurse for writing comforting phrases in Welsh on the bedside notes of her son while he was in hospital in Birmingham.

Natalie Ridler, from Gorseinon, Swansea, said the nurse wrote down phrases for colleagues to use to soothe her then-two-year-old son, Morgan.

Her message said: "Mum reported that speaking Welsh to Morgan helps soothe him. Here's some that may help."

Morgan was in intensive care after having surgery to remove a tumour.

Mrs Ridler posted a video thanking the nurse on TikTok that has been liked more than 8,000 times.

"It was a very moving thing to have done. I think that it's something that's very simple," she said.

"You know that she probably didn't think was a big deal when she was doing it. She was just trying to make sure Morgan felt OK. But it meant the world to us and to Morgan, I imagine, as well."

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Ms Ridler said the family were unable to stay overnight after Morgan had surgery in December 2021 and were staying nearby when the hospital called at 03:30 to say he was very distressed.

A student nurse wrote Welsh words, as well as how to pronounce them, on Morgan's notes for her colleagues

She began speaking to her son in Welsh on the phone to try and calm him down.

Mrs Ridler added: "She [the nurse] asked me a couple of questions. I believe she's from Wales, but she was a student nurse in one of the universities up there.

"And, unbeknownst to me, she's taken from that conversation that Morgan liked to be spoken to in Welsh when he was upset and she went and wrote in his notes some Welsh phrases and their pronunciation so that the members of staff on the ward could speak to him.

"He was in a scary place he didn't know with lots of accents he didn't recognise and it must have been really nice for him to hear some familiar phrases like he does at home.

"I think the phrases she used were perfect... she knew exactly what he would have wanted to hear."

Morgan was able to hear familiar Welsh words while he was in hospital in England

The phrases included, "You're OK" and "you're safe".

Mrs Ridler described the actions of the nurse as "incredible", adding: "It was absolutely above and beyond for Morgan's comfort."

She said Morgan, who is now three, has been through eight rounds of chemotherapy and has recently had a clear scan.

The Welsh language was included on Morgan's medical notes to help him during his stay in Birmingham

In the TikTok video, Mrs Ridler said: "I feel like that's an incredible thing for a student nurse to do and it's so heart-warming and it's really, really touched me that she did that.

"What an amazing nurse she's going to make one day."

The nurse messaged Mrs Ridler on TikTok to say she has now graduated and was due to start her first role in intensive care next week, adding she was really pleased she was able to help.

"She was very humble. I still don't think she really grasped the enormity of what it was and what it meant to us because to her she was just doing something nice," Mrs Ridler added.

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