Meet Katrina Skippers, a hero who has worked at the Groote Schuur Hospital for 40 years!
Western Cape, South Africa (14 August 2022) – Heroes of Groote Schuur is a Facebook page dedicated to highlighting the amazing people who work or visit the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
The page highlights all the incredible work being done by the staff who keep everything running smoothly.
The latest features Katrina Skippers, a hero who has worked at the Groote Schuur Hospital for 40 years!
“I’m a household aid – I look after the cleaning in D13 ICU. I’ve worked at Groote Schuur for 40 years, but for 37 of those years, I’ve worked in D13. I’m retiring this week.
I’m originally from Van Rhynsdorp in the Northern Cape. It was a struggle to get work there, so I came to Cape Town when I was young. I lived in Mitchell’s Plain and knew someone else who worked at Groote Schuur, so we came here to look for work in the April of 1982. At first, there was nothing, but we came back in May, and there was still nothing. We came back a third time in July, and the person in charge asked us why we hadn’t been there on July 1 to start work. We told her we knew nothing about it, and so started immediately!
On the third day, the person in charge asked me if my heart was strong enough. I didn’t know what she meant, so I said, ‘Yes, my heart is strong’ so on the Monday, I started in the accident unit, which is now known as Trauma.
I was a bit nervous about working there because of the things you see there. I knew nothing about things like ‘Domestic Array’ or blood! But I got used to it.
Even though I’ve been here for so long, things haven’t really changed over the years. Of course, many of the people who used to be here are no longer at Groote Schuur. Maybe the only change has been that we really used to work as a team, we used to cover for each other and pick up each other’s work – the love is still there, but sometimes people aren’t that keen to do things that they don’t see as their work.
But I love to come to work here. I love my work. I’m used to working hard. I came from a town where people worked very hard on the farms – for a little bit of money, but still a lot of hard work.
My mother always said to me, ‘Please if you get a job, look after it. Don’t let your name fall.’ And I think I have done that.
I’m going to miss the early mornings because I’m so used to it. I will miss the place. I think I will relax for the first month of retirement, but by the second month, I’m not so sure. I need to find myself a hobby, or I’ll just fall over. I thought that maybe I’d start with planting a tree, maybe I’ll see if I can start a garden.” – Katrina Skippers
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