“Even though I’ve grown accustomed to a degree of suffering, I’ve never seen this amount of devastation. But as much as it has been difficult and frustrating, it’s also been educational” - Tiffany
Martin fought blazes as a firefighter for about eight years, working 24-hour shifts while studying at the University of Cape Town to earn his degree. He used to spend all his time between university and work, he said, but that wasn’t going to stop him because he had a plan. And as is often the case with people who know where they’re going, the universe conspired at the very beginning of his days as a firefighter and led Martin to an emergency situation on the outskirts of Cape Town where his heart started to race for all the right reasons. “There was a case in Gugulethu where an old lady required some assistance. Just being a level three firefighter at the time, there was a limited number of things I could do for her and that was really frustrating. So, a paramedic came out and intervened and essentially saved this lady’s life and I was, like, damn, this is really interesting. I decided then and there to go and study.” The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it an unprecedented influx of patients into the wards of Mediclinic. As the number of infections rose in the beginning of 2020, so did the stress levels among the staff of the hospital, who suddenly found themselves on a frontline they hadn’t encountered before, in the unenviable position of having front row seats while the drama unfolded. “This is my 11th year with Mediclinic, and we’ve never seen anything like the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Tiffany. “Even though I’ve grown accustomed to a degree of suffering, I’ve never seen this amount of devastation.
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