Call handler took 999 calls in her Grandmother's living room so she could care for 81-year-old during pandemic

Laura began caring for her grandmother, Beryl, just as the Covid-19 pandemic broke out – taking over from her mum who is an intensive care nurse.

The 24-year-old from South Tyneside had been working from home as an indexer for Northumbria Police’s crime department when she responded to a request to help out her former colleagues to meet demand in the communications department.

Having four years of experience answering 999 calls, Laura went back into the control room while continuing to care for her grandmother.

She said: "About a week into working from home I got asked if I’d step back into my old comms role.

“My mam is an intensive care nurse in South Tyneside – she’s been working in full PPE since March and dealing with critical patients so couldn’t look after my nana.

“It was such a difficult time but looking back I’m so pleased I was able to help out.

“Being a call handler means you’re the only person who is there for someone in their moment of need and there wouldn’t be a working police force without them."

Sadly, Beryl’s health deteriorated further when she suffered a burst appendix and broke her back after a fall – the same time as the country entered the tiered restrictions, meaning Laura’s former colleagues were overwhelmed again.

She added: “The region had just entered the tiered system and a number of staff were off sick and there was a high volume of calls still coming in.

“I volunteered to help again, but because I couldn’t leave my nan – I had all the equipment delivered to me and answered calls and web messages from her sitting room.

“We still couldn’t see my mam and that was really hard because we’re all really close and when things were difficult all I wanted was a hug from her and I couldn’t even have that.

“It was hard working from home too as every call or web message is so different – you don’t realise how much you rely on your colleagues for support.

"It’s a stressful job and sometimes you speak to people where you’re forced to compose yourself because they need you to be professional and do your job – but all you want to do is have a cry.”

The former Criminology student has since been presented with a certificate from the force’s Head of Crime, Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Ord, who has praised Laura for her work during the pandemic.

Mr Ord commented: “What Laura has done for the Force has been nothing short of exceptional.

“Offering to work shifts as a call handler during a critical time is worthy of praise in itself but to do this while caring for an elderly relative and working from their front room is really admirable and she should be incredibly proud of what she’s done.

“The Force is lucky to have someone like Laura serving as part of the team.”

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