This photo captures the moment our Project Search intern Toseef Ahmed met his hero Dr Sal Uka at CRH.

Paediatrician Sal cared for Toseef as a baby back in 2000 at Calderdale Royal so an emotional  "surprise, surprise" style reunion was arranged.  Nikki Hosty, EDI Manager and his job coaches Lisa & Tracey fixed it as Toseef told them meeting Sal would be "his dream".

Toseef's smile lit up the room and he was so excited he couldn't wait to let Dr Uka know why he was his hero, he showed him his booklet and shared the translation work he is doing on the stroke ward.

Toseef's care within our Trust inspired him to want to work in healthcare when he was older and he was delighted when he was successful to join the Project Search programme.

Sal said: " It was really lovely to see Toseef again and I’m humbled to learn I’m his hero! He made quite an impression on me as a patient and is now doing the same as a colleague through Project Search. I’m really proud of what he and his colleagues are doing in the Trust. I can only hope that in turn he inspires others in the same way I did for him."

Toseef carries around with him two small booklets with pictures of him as a baby being held by members of our team and he is proud to show this booklet to anyone in the Trust as he is so proud to be part of a "family"  which  delivered excellent care to him when he was little.

Shirley, the midwife, retired some time ago, but Toseef has written a letter to her to share how much she means to him and what impact she has made on his life.

Nikki Hosty said: " This is a fabulous story that shows how much of an impact the CHFT family have on our community and their lives." 

** At CHFT we support Project Search.  This initiative is funded by the council and CHFT provide work placements for people with disabilities with the aim that the interns gather as much experience that they can to enable them to secure employment at the end of the programme. We host 8 interns currently.