Bristol Children's Hospital porter of 20 years 'humbled' by parents

A hospital porter who has retired after working at a children's hospital for 20 years says he has been humbled by the strength of grieving parents.

Charlie Maloney was well known around Bristol Children's Hospital referred to by many as simply "Charlie The Porter".

The 68-year-old has worked with hundreds of families, many of whom credit him with easing one of the most difficult periods of their lives.

Mr Maloney said the job was "much more meaningful" than he had first thought.

The father-of-three, from Horfield, began working at the hospital on 4 January 2002 after leaving a career in aerospace.

He said he was "drawn to the job" following the loss of his baby daughter in 1983 and because he had always wanted to work with children.

"I wanted to give something back and applied to the children's hospital," he said.

Mr Maloney said one of the things he would miss most about the role was being able to make a difference in somebody's life when they need it the most.

"I've dealt a lot better with grieving parents given our experience of losing our own baby," he said.

"I've known so many parents who have lost children and to get some of the messages I have got from them on Facebook is just outstanding, wishing me all the best and saying what a wonderful job I did.

"I find that very, very humbling, when they have lost a child."

Despite telling his wife he was just going to work at the hospital for a year, "it ended up being a lot longer than that", and it was not always easy.

"There are some cases that make you want to weep. But that's the nature of the job and I knew that when I walked into it," he said.

"I knew I'd be moving patients about, but it was a much more meaningful role and job than I had previously thought and it made me want to stay on."

A large part of Mr Maloney's job was working with children undergoing cancer treatment, whom he got to know "quite well" due to daily trips to radiotherapy.

"You're trying to keep their mind off of the reality if you like, when you know it's not going well, so you tend to chat about things like their animals, or family, anything to take their minds of themselves," he said.

Mr Maloney is so well known at the hospital, he was even named Bristol's 15th coolest Bristolian by Bristol Live in 2017.

It came after a parent posted on the hospital's Facebook page that when she popped in to the hospital for the first time in years not only did Mr Maloney recognise her, but he remembered her son and her other children's names.

Mr Maloney said he had seen a lot of changes in the past 20 years, but the biggest was when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

"Our job changed quite dramatically when we went full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)," he said.

"We weren't as involved as we were before. You couldn't chat with people like you did before, you had to be more careful, more guarded."

Despite the challenges Mr Maloney stayed in the job, but said it was now "time to call it a day".

"I didn't really want to leave... but it was time," he said.

"Looking back it has been an amazing experience and one that I can't believe I have ended up with."

He added that while he would missing being with the patients and "magical" staff he was looking forward to putting his feet up.

A spokesperson for the hospital said: "Last Friday we said a heartfelt farewell to Charlie."

"He has worked with hundreds of families, countless colleagues and many others in our community.

"As a hospital we are very grateful for all of the hard work, dedication and care Charlie has given to his role.

"We will miss you Charlie and wish you all the best."

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