The idea is that these play items will keep patients, young and old, entertained in waiting rooms ‘and serve as a distraction’ from their treatment
Wednesday, 17 July 2024, 12:14
The Hospital Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Victoria in Malaga has received an unusual gift from one of its patients, Juan Rodríguez to be precise, a retired carpenter undergoing radiotherapy treatment at the oncology unit. The gift consists of more than fifty articulated, wooden toys in the form of detachable trucks, handcrafted by this patient and made from recycled wood.
This act of “tenderness and generosity” was how this patient and his family wanted to show their gratitude to all the staff who care for him in this cancer treatment unit. Each piece has been made in a customised manner, so each one is different in how it can be taken apart and put back together.
The ceremony for the delivery of these useful, yet also decorative items, which this carpenter makes in a workshop at his own home to give to neighbours and friends, was attended by a good number of hospital dignitaries. Namely, director of nursing Pablo Fernández, head of the radiotherapy oncology Unit José Antonio Medina, fellow colleague and supervisor of the same unit Yolanda Lupiañez as well as team leaders Antonio Reyes and Ana Rosa Durán, and finally head of public participation Ana Gómez Fuentes.
Juan Rodríguez simply expressed his satisfaction at being able to “give these detachable toys to hospital patients so that they can entertain themselves with them in the waiting rooms and use them as a distraction.”
Rodríguez explained that he has been doing this activity as a hobby since he retired and emphasised that all these pieces that come in the form of trailer trucks are handmade, with each one being totally different. “They are also built with a lot of love and imagination, designed to be easily taken apart and re-assembled.”
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“Juan is a very dear patient who offered during his time at the unit to make articulated trucks out of recycled wood to serve as a fun thing to play with in the waiting rooms, not only in the radiation oncology unit, but also for other waiting areas where children are treated, as in the San José Obrero specialities centre and also for the child and adolescent mental health unit at the Hospital Marítimo de Torremolinos, and also for the adult therapeutic community of this same centre”, said unit chief Yolanda Lupiañez.
Lupiañez added that these pieces can now be painted in bright colours in the occupational therapy workshops within the mental health unit, “where some of this material will be used for entertainment and decoration.
Speaking as head of public participation at the hospital, Ana Gómez Fuentes expressed her gratitude for this gesture: “Every time we receive a thank-you from a patient we feel very honoured, and even more so when, as it is on this occasion, it’s something made with their own hands and from the heart, we show how much we value it and the generosity with which they carry out this activity for our patients, who will enjoy these objects while waiting to be treated, or for the therapy workshops in mental health.”
