The doctor will see you again - in 75 years
A former hospital patient has returned 75 years later to see how the building has changed – and where his daughter now works.
The Chelmsford Infirmary had just become an NHS hospital when Walter Fell was admitted in 1948 following an accident at work.
The 16-year-old apprentice had severed his Achilles tendon and two arteries in his ankle while working for a tool-making firm in Maldon.
The hospital is now the Chelmsford and Essex Centre and home to a number of community mental health services. Walter’s daughter Dr Alison Fell works at the C&E Centre as a consultant clinical psychologist.
Walter, now aged 90, wanted to see the building in New London Road again, so Alison took him in for a trip down memory lane, ahead of the NHS 75th birthday on 5 July.
He was able to find the room where his hospital bed was (pictured below), but the building has changed vastly since his stay.
Alison said: “The quick actions of two first aiders at his workplace stopped him from bleeding to death and he remembers hurtling along in the ambulance, horns blaring, to the A&E department at what is now the C&E Centre, where he had an emergency operation.
“He recalled being told he would be in hospital for 12 weeks, but managed to get home in eight.
“He was in plaster for at least four weeks, on his back with his leg bent up at a 90 degree angle.
“He described a vivid memory of the surgeon, Mr Harris - known as the Bone Doctor - coming onto the ward and finding Dad sat on his bed.
“He ordered him ‘You boy! Get up! I want to see you walking’ and then as Dad tentatively began to walk up the ward, the surgeon hit Dad under the chin with his rolled up medical papers, barking ‘Keep your head up boy!’, and told him not to look at his feet as he began to walk again.”
Walter made a full recovery and was soon back at work - and even able to play football within 18 months of his accident.
