On a visit to one of our centres, we pride ourselves on offering you expert care and support from the moment you step through the doors (and in many cases, beforehand too).
And on-call firefighter Stewart Warman says his experience at Jubilee House was a huge success thanks to every person he met along the way, from our physiotherapists to our kitchen staff, receptionists, his peers on the programme and so many more.
Stewart is an on-call firefighter with West Yorkshire FRS and works as a farrier in his day-to-day role. Both of these jobs require a lot of physical fitness, so when he seriously injured his knee in 2022, he had to stop both of them to focus on his recovery.
“I was actually doing an RTC training exercise in April 2022 and slipped,” says Stewart. “I remember I was sat back on my right foot and remember thinking, ‘I’m not this agile!’ I was okay stood upright but I couldn’t move forward or back.”
Stewart was told he’d torn his patellar tendon, and was unable to move his leg or walk.
“I had the operation the following Monday and was off work for five months overall,” he adds. “I didn’t think I’d get back to either job and that did have an impact on my mental wellbeing. I was able to get back on my motorbike after a couple of months which helped massively to be honest, as I could see I’d be able to work towards a return to work again after that.
“Mine are both quite physical jobs so I knew it would be a while, due to the nature of the work.”
Stewart had heard through colleagues about our support, and had already previously organised fundraisers for us, so called to see how we may be able to help him.
“I got in touch when I’d done some physio and was offered a week’s stay at Jubilee House,” says Stewart.
“The whole thing was so helpful. The accommodation and facilities were brilliant, the food was good, the staff amazing, and the group I was with was great too.
“I was struggling with the fitness test and they made some suggestions. They got me to start from the hardest part, which really helped me, and ultimately helped me return to work.”
“I’d encourage anyone in the fire service to fundraise and donate”
Stewart Warman
Stewart now hopes to encourage anyone in the fire services – as well as their families – to organised fundraisers and donate what they can, to help ensure more people like him can continue to receive our support for years to come.
“I organised a hose run eight years ago, with a few local stations, and we raised over £1,000,” he adds. “I’d certainly encourage anyone in the fire service – and families too – to do what they can to fundraise and donate.”
If you feel you’d benefit from our health and wellbeing support, you can call our Support Line on 0800 389 8820, make an enquiry online or visit the ‘Access Support’ tab in My Fire Fighters Charity.
And remember – if you’re feeling suicidal, you can call our Crisis Line 24 hours a day on 0300 373 0896.