Bay Harbour: September 16, 2020

Wednesday September 16 2020
Our People
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
BAY HARBOUR
PAGE 17
Jane Potts
Covid hero’s passion for medicine
Jane Potts was
recognised as a ‘Covid
hero’ for her work
volunteering as a St
John ambulance officer
during the lockdown.
The former Redcliffs
woman speaks to
Devon Bolger about
her commitment to
the job and passion for
medicine
When did you start
volunteering for St John?
It would have been about
eight years ago now. We moved
[from the city] out to Selwyn
after the earthquake and I
started about six months to a
year after that.
Was your house badly
damaged in the earthquake?
Yes, we weren’t allowed to
go back to our house it was
so badly damaged. We were
in Redcliffs at the time. The
garage collapsed down on to the
house. We just picked the kids
up from school that day and left
Christchurch. We were lucky, we
had a bach at Whitecliffs which
had clothes, food and water so
we lived out there for about a
year and a half.
Do you have a call-out you
attended that is the most
memorable?
There was one incident I
remember where a lady had
a baby in the back of the
ambulance. We had the midwife
with us in the back so there
wasn’t too much to do but it was
a nice job. Some of them are not
very nice as you can imagine.
Everybody was really happy
and the mother and baby were
fine so that was really cool to
experience.
You were nominated for your
GIVE BACK:
Former
Redcliffs
woman Jane
Potts has been
volunteering for
St John Darfield
for eight years
after moving
to the district
following the
earthquake. ​
work during the lockdown,
what was that like?
We were reasonably quiet, I
guess, over lockdown. Most of
the call-outs were for medical
things because people were not
out and about or on the roads
and things like that. When we
did go to someone’s house we
did have to stand quite far away
from them. We had to ask them
all of the Covid-19 questions
before we could get close and
check them over.
I kept a change of clothes at
the station and would have a
shower, take my uniform home
in a separate bag and wash it
as soon as I got home. We also
had to wear gloves and masks.
Driving into town was great
though because there was no
traffic on the road so it was
much quicker. There were a lot
of things we had to do to be safe.
We had to be very conscious of
bringing it back to our houses.
Can you tell me about your
family?
Rob and I have four
children. The oldest is 29 and
the youngest is 24. so they all
don’t live at home anymore.
The oldest is living in London,
I’m not too sure when we will
be able to see her again so that’s
not very nice but she’s coping
okay over there. The next oldest
is a boy who is living down in
Alexander with his partner.
Then we have another boy who
lives in Christchurch and our
youngest is in her last year of
university in Christchurch.
They are all great kids we can’t
complain.