Emily Sharratt - Health Heroes: The People Who Took Care of the World

First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

Text and illustrations copyright Simon & Schuster UK Ltd 2020

Designed by Thy Bui

This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.

No reproduction without permission.

All rights reserved.

The right of Emily Sharratt and Juanita Londoo to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Design and Patent Act, 1988.

These Are The Hands by Michael Rosen ( Michael Rosen) is printed by permission of United Agents on behalf of Michael Rosen.

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Simon & Schuster Australia, Sydney

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1 from the sale of this book will be donated to NHS Charities Together, a registered charity in England & Wales (no. 1186569)

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

PB ISBN 978-1-4711-9721-5

PB export ISBN 978-1-4711-9783-3

eBook ISBN 978-1-4711-9720-8

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Guardians of the young carers featured in this book have granted permission for their extracts to appear in print and electronic publication.

For Issy my baby sister and my hero

by Michael Rosen

These are the hands

That touch us first

Feel your head

Find the pulse

And make your bed.

These are the hands

That tap your back

Test the skin

Hold your arm

Wheel the bin

Change the bulb

Fix the drip

Pour the jug

Replace your hip.

These are the hands

That fill the bath

Mop the floor

Flick the switch

Soothe the sore

Burn the swabs

Give us a jab

Throw out sharps

Design the lab.

And these are the hands

That stop the leaks

Empty the pan

Wipe the pipes

Carry the can

Clamp the veins

Make the cast

Log the dose

And touch us last.

Welcome to this celebration of health heroes from all around the world!

Youve probably needed to visit a doctor or nurse, or take a trip to a hospital at some point in your life, so you know that the people who work in healthcare who look after us when were unwell or injured are important. But something happened at the very end of 2019 that really made the world stand up and take notice of these very special heroes.

That something was the outbreak of a new virus named COVID-19, which quickly spread around the world, becoming what is known as a pandemic. Governments everywhere shut down non-essential activity to try to slow the spread of the disease. Across the globe, people kept to their homes, seeing no one but the other members of their households, going outside only if they absolutely had to.

At the same time, doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, cleaners, cooks, porters, office staff and many others were working harder than ever, for longer hours, wearing uncomfortable protective clothing, in hospitals that quickly filled with sick patients putting themselves at risk so the rest of us could be safe. Suddenly we couldnt miss the fact that these health heroes are all around us. And in fact, throughout history, whenever there has been sickness, pain, injury, hunger or sadness, we have never had to look far to find people working to make it better.

In this book, you will meet many health heroes from across time and around the world. But, of course, this is only the tiniest fraction of the total number of them.

A lot of the health workers you will meet in these pages are not sure about being called heroes. Some say theyre just doing their jobs, or that they feel lucky in their work, or that theyre normal people like the rest of us who simply want to earn a living and be safe at the same time.

But even as COVID-19 has spread worldwide, so too has something much more positive: people everywhere have begun to stand outside their homes, on balconies and doorsteps to clap and cheer and sing; to light up buildings, draw rainbows, and send messages, meals and love to the healthcare workers. To say, You might not feel like heroes, or even have chosen to be heroes, but we see your work and we wont ever forget it.

So lets hear it for all the health heroes, past, present and future. Maybe youll even grow up to be one of them!

As you read through, look out for words in bold these words will be explained in more detail at the end of each section!

Health heroes have been around pretty much since humans have: for as long as weve existed we have needed the support of others when things havent been working quite right with our bodies, when weve come into the world and when weve left it.

Medicine and healthcare havent always looked like they do today, but early health heroes paved the way for the ones that followed. Across time, there have been too many health heroes to name them all, but here are a few

Many Ancient Greeks believed that illness was a punishment sent by the gods. But some of the cleverest people at the time were busy studying and exploring the natural world and the human body to find out how it all worked.

(around 460 BCE )

Very little is known about Hippocrates including whether the work usually associated with him was done by one person or a group of people! but he is thought to be one of the most important figures in the history of medicine. In fact, he is often referred to as the father of medicine.

At a time when most people were very superstitious about sickness, he is believed to have taught that all illness had a natural cause. He wrote many documents on medicine, and gave his name to the Hippocratic Oath. This is still sworn by people today when they become doctors. In it they say they will always do their best and try never to do harm.