海角直播

Tragedy inspires career switch

A 海角直播 graduate who was inspired to switch careers following a family tragedy has officially received her qualifications.

The support that Leanne Nellis and her family received following the tragic death of her new-born daughter Maisie led her to make the decision to retrain as a neonatal nurse. Following the completion of her studies at 海角直播鈥檚 School of Health & Life Sciences in 2021, Leanne is now helping the same neonatal team that cared for Maisie at the James Cook University Hospital make a difference to other young babies and their families.

This week, Leanne joined with other members of her cohort to officially receive her degree after their ceremony was postponed from last summer because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Leanne, who was awarded a BSc(Hons) Child Nursing, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been really lovely to get back onto campus and see everyone again.

鈥淎fter everything that鈥檚 happened over the last couple of years, it鈥檚 great to finally be able to celebrate everything we鈥檝e achieved.鈥�

Leanne gave birth to Maisie one day past her due date in October 2011. Maisie was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and was taken to the Middlesbrough hospital鈥檚 neonatal unit where she was looked after for four days.

Determined that Maisie鈥檚 memory was kept alive, Leanne and her family set up a small charity called Maisie鈥檚 Hope which, to date, has raised 拢57,000 for the neonatal unit.

This, in turn, led to Leanne volunteering for the unit before ultimately making the decision to retrain as a neonatal nurse.

Despite having limited healthcare experience and her previous qualification being a marketing degree from 海角直播, Leanne was determined to pursue her ambition.

After enrolling on her course at 海角直播, she was awarded a Tees Valley Community Foundation Scholarship which supported her with 拢5,000 over the course of her studies.

In October 2021, ten years after she said goodbye to Maisie, Leanne put on her scrubs and joined the unit as a registered neonatal nurse.

鈥淚 initially wasn鈥檛 sure whether going back to university was possible,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e had children and a mortgage.

鈥淗owever, after the experience with my daughter it was something I knew I really wanted to do.

鈥淲e had to make some sacrifices, but I really enjoyed my training.

鈥淭here was a great mix of placements which allowed us to get experience of work and learn from people of all different backgrounds.

鈥淚t was very intense, but I would totally do it all again.鈥�