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<strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Wednesday <strong>September</strong> 9 <strong>2020</strong><br />
6<br />
OUR PEOPLE<br />
JANE POTTS<br />
‘Covid hero’ volunteer’s passion<br />
Jane Potts was<br />
recognised as a ‘Covid<br />
hero’ for her work<br />
volunteering as a St<br />
John ambulance officer<br />
during the lockdown.<br />
The Darfield resident<br />
speaks to Devon Bolger<br />
about her commitment<br />
to the job and passion<br />
for medicine<br />
When did you start<br />
volunteering for St John?<br />
It would have been about eight<br />
years ago now. We moved out to<br />
<strong>Selwyn</strong> after the earthquake and<br />
I started about six months to a<br />
year after that.<br />
Was your house badly<br />
damaged in the earthquake?<br />
Yes, we weren’t allowed to<br />
go back to our house it was so<br />
badly damaged. We were in<br />
Redcliffs at the time.<br />
The garage collapsed down<br />
on to the house. We just picked<br />
the kids up from school that day<br />
and left Christchurch.<br />
We were lucky, we had a bach<br />
at Whitecliffs which had clothes,<br />
food and water so we lived<br />
out there for about a year and<br />
a half.<br />
Why did you decide to join St<br />
John?<br />
I have always been very<br />
interested in medical things.<br />
Before I had kids I worked in a<br />
laboratory doing microbiology. I<br />
then retrained as a radiographer<br />
so I’ve worked in oncology with<br />
that. When I moved, I wanted<br />
to get involved in the <strong>Selwyn</strong><br />
community so I thought it would<br />
just be a good thing to do. I<br />
GIVE BACK: Jane Potts has<br />
been volunteering for St<br />
John Darfield for eight years<br />
after moving to the district<br />
following the earthquake. <br />
have always been interested in<br />
volunteering and I figured it<br />
would be nice to get involved<br />
and get to know other people in<br />
the community.<br />
Do you have a call-out you<br />
attended that is the most<br />
memorable?<br />
There was one incident I remember<br />
where a lady had a baby<br />
in the back of the ambulance.<br />
We had the midwife with us<br />
in the back so there wasn’t too<br />
much to do but it was a nice job.<br />
Some of them are not very nice<br />
as you can imagine. Everybody<br />
was really happy and the mother<br />
and baby were fine so that was<br />
really cool to experience.<br />
How many hours a week do<br />
you volunteer for?<br />
It varies quite a lot. Most of the<br />
shifts are 12 hour shifts. I probably<br />
do three or four a week so it<br />
is around 40 hours. Sometimes<br />
more, sometimes less depending<br />
on what else I’ve got on. We<br />
are all volunteers out here in<br />
Darfield. I’m not the only person<br />
who does it, I’m just one of many.<br />
That is quite an important thing<br />
to mention, I couldn’t do it if it<br />
wasn’t for other people that did it<br />
as well. They are all good people<br />
and care about the community.<br />
Do you have a day job?<br />
I just work part-time about<br />
one or two days a week in town<br />
at Lowe Environmental Impact<br />
doing administration stuff in<br />
the office. I am quite lucky I’m<br />
around a lot in the day time to<br />
attend callouts. Some of the<br />
volunteers don’t really get to<br />
have that.<br />
What was it like when you<br />
found out you were recognised<br />
as a ‘Covid hero’?<br />
It was lovely, it was really nice<br />
to get nominated. I thought it<br />
was nice of the <strong>Selwyn</strong> District<br />
Council, and <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong>, to<br />
do something like that and acknowledge<br />
the people that have<br />
gone above and beyond. It was<br />
really nice, I did feel a little bit<br />
embarrassed as I’m not the only<br />
one who does it but it was very<br />
nice to be acknowledged, yes.<br />
PATIos - ouTDoor AreAs - CAr PorTs<br />
Saturday 26 <strong>September</strong><br />
10am–12pm<br />
Rolleston Community Centre<br />
Buy or sell some pre-loved treasures!<br />
$5 per car park, bookings essential.<br />
Proceeds will be donated to the Ellesmere Food Bank.<br />
selwyn.govt.nz/events<br />
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