Campbelltown Hospital nurses made a dying man’s wish come true
Two nurses wondered what they could do to make a terminal man smile. They worked with his family and friend to make one final wish a reality.
Macarthur
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Two nurses took out a coveted award for making a dying man’s wish come true.
Campbelltown Hospital nurses Joshua Paroz and Neil Keenan won in the Excellence in Nursing category at the annual Health Excellence in Nursery and Midwifery Awards.
“I was trying to work out what we could do for him to really improve his quality of life at the end,” Joshua Paroz, 22, said.
“I found out he wanted to get better so he can go out and see this car that he has been building. So I organised for (his friend) to bring it in.”
Mr Paroz came in on his day off and, together with Mr Keenan, they took him outside to see the golden Holden Commodore he and his friend had been converting into a race car.
The 34-year-old man’s condition was frail. Surrounded by his wife and father, he sat upright to cast a look over the machine he had laboured over — a lifelong dream accelerated by his cancer diagnosis.
Two weeks later, Mr Paroz would attend his funeral. The car’s licence plate reads FCNCER.
“He was really appreciative, he was really happy to see it,” Mr Paroz said. “He was an excellent, excellent man.”
Mr Paroz has been a nurse for almost two years and has recently been accepted into a Bachelor of Nursing degree to become a registered nurse.
“I always wanted to try and make my difference in the world … and it feels nice to feel validated that I’m working hard,” Mr Paroz said, on winning the award.
“It validates that I have made a difference.”
He and Mr Keenan were the only joint winners this year. More than 360 applicants competed across 12 award categories.
“There’s lots of nurses who do their best every single day and they don’t get this kind of recognition,” Mr Paroz said. “I hope that sort of thing finds them.”
Also among the winners was Brian Lane of Camden and Campbelltown Hospitals. He won for Excellence in Management.