Father and daughter duo share Valentine's’s Day with patients at Prince of Wales hospital
WHILE some of us may miss out on flowers today, hundreds of patients at the Prince of Wales hospital won’t have to thanks to a pair of Valentine’s Day heroes.
Southern Courier
Don't miss out on the headlines from Southern Courier. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WHILE some of us may miss out on flowers today, hundreds of patients at the Prince of Wales hospital won’t have to thanks to a pair of Valentine’s Day heroes.
Father-daughter duo Michael and Talia Rubinstein spent hours this afternoon visiting patients who can’t be with their loved ones, handing out more than 400 roses around the wards.
This will be the eighth year the pair have invested in the ritual.
“It’s mostly about the conversations we have with them and the time we spend with them,” Mr Rubinstein
He said some patients had not had a visit all day.
“The strength and resilience of the patients ... sometimes it’s overwhelming.”
“One lady, in her mid 90s, she’d lost her husband and daughter a while ago ... she was just very appreciative of the roses and the thoughts and it was just nice to be able to be there with her.”
Each year, Mr Rubinstein’s compassionate drive gets a little bigger after starting out with a simple visit to his grandmother several years ago.
When she was admitted at the time, Mr Rubinstein decided to take her a Valentine’s Day rose and hand others out to patients.
“The year later my daughter said she would love to do it with me,” he said. “We contacted the Prince of Wales and so it began.
“For us, and I think Talia and I are pretty damn close, it’s become on of those special rituals,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity we have to spend time together and contribute.”
Talia is heading to university in Melbourne this year, but has promised to return to the hospital on Valentine’s Day next year.
“It’s an enduring and ongoing tradition,” Mr Rubinstein said.