Faith

Miriam Burrell has always had faith and it has stood her well during her professional and working life.

Even now, despite having Parkinson’s Disease and with mobility problems, she is still able to get to church with the help of her friends and with Caremark’s support she is still living in her home of over 35 years.

Miriam comes from a Methodist background and went on to preach herself at various churches in her native Doncaster.

She remembers when she was very young someone telling her that one day, she would get the calling to go to another country to spread the Christian message – and this turned out to be very prophetic.

That’s because in her professional life, she was a Radiographer and then a Radiotherapist and this once took her to work in the Caribbean.

Miriam explains: “I got offered a job in Jamaica and I knew it was somewhere God wanted me to go to.

“I decided to travel to the country by boat which took 20 days in the 1960s when I went, but it was a fantastic experience to do it this way.

“I stayed with the parents of one of my friends and worked in hospitals in Kingston and Montego Bay, and it was only because my mum came ill that I came back after two years as I really liked it there.”

Having returned to the UK, Miriam says she couldn’t get a job in radiotherapy or radiography, so she started working in a medical physics department at a hospital and ended up working there for over 30 years.

Now, she receives two calls a day from our carers to support with her personal care and meal preparation, but she is still largely very independent.

“The care I receive from Caremark is very good,” says Miriam.

“I look forward to the carers coming each day because it’s nice to be able to chat with them and I like their company.

“They treat me with care and respect so I couldn’t ask for more.”