Intensive care nurse tells of dramatic journey home from Nepal during lockdown

An intensive care nurse from West Sussex who became trapped in Nepal when it closed its borders has spoken of her dramatic journey home and her return to work on the frontline during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Becca Gerard-Pearse, 29, from Lower Beeding, had been studying leprosy at the Anandaban Hospital for two months and had just started a planned month of travelling to follow when the crisis deepened.

Trekking in the mountains with no mobile phone signal, she was unaware how serious the situation had become and when she was finally stopped, the repatriation process proved long and frustrating.

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The wait for flights home was made more complicated by the fact Becca was travelling with another nurse who was Portuguese, a friend she had worked with at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London for about four years.

Having an interest in travelling and working abroad, Becca took a career back last year to study for the professional diploma in tropical nursing at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

She heard Dr Maggie Burgess, founder of the charity Promise Nepal, give a lecture on Hansen’s Disease, commonly known as leprosy, and was inspired to apply for a scholarship to travel to Nepal to study it further.

She went on to win the charity’s Dr Maggie Burgess Travel Scholarship and began her studies in Nepal in March.

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Dr Burgess, who lives in Chichester, kept in touch and it was thanks to her support that Becca and her friend were able to travel back to England together.

Becca Gerard-Pearse with the acting nursing superintendent at Anandaban HospitalBecca Gerard-Pearse with the acting nursing superintendent at Anandaban Hospital
Becca Gerard-Pearse with the acting nursing superintendent at Anandaban Hospital

Becca explained: “The flights were for British nationals and my friend is Portuguese, although she has been working in London for a long time, so Maggie wrote a supportive email, explaining we are key workers.

“It was frustrating because other countries were being quite efficient and quite quick. It was a long tedious process and it did feel a long wait. My friend and I, being nurses, just wanted to get back to our hospital to help.”

Becca was due back in England mid-April, so not far from the time she actually arrived home, but the end of the trip was very different to what she had planned.

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She had worked as a critical care nurse, in intensive care and the high dependency unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ for about five years, after studying nursing at Oxford Brookes University.

Becca spent time with the female leprosy patients and loved having the opportunity to teach them how to knit. She found it inspiring to see the women get excited by something so simple. This lady knitted the hat for her in one evening.Becca spent time with the female leprosy patients and loved having the opportunity to teach them how to knit. She found it inspiring to see the women get excited by something so simple. This lady knitted the hat for her in one evening.
Becca spent time with the female leprosy patients and loved having the opportunity to teach them how to knit. She found it inspiring to see the women get excited by something so simple. This lady knitted the hat for her in one evening.

During her year out, studying tropical diseases, she said she met lots of fantastic people who were very inspiring, including Dr Burgess.

Becca said: “I love travelling and I have always wanted to work overseas. I was very lucky I was offered the funds and was able to go out to Nepal for two months to learn about the disease, live and work in a different culture, and see the world from a different perspective.

“This was a really fantastic opportunity. The nursing side was fascinating, seeing what they do and how they manage, especially coming to Nepal from a big teaching hospital. I was very lucky.

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“Most people think leprosy is a Biblical disease, they say ‘does it still exist?’, but it is still very prevalent in different parts of the world, like Nepal, Brazil and India.

“I spent time at the Anandaban Hospital, which reaches out to people with leprosy in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. Despite being a small rural hospital, it is amazing what it offers. I didn’t really know much about leprosy before, so it was really interesting.”

She wanted to have some time to travel afterwards, so she tagged a month on and her nursing friend went out to join her.

Becca said: “Coronavirus was bubbling away but people weren’t worried about it, so we carried on with our plans. We were trekking in the mountains on the Annapurna Circuit when we were stopped and told about the lockdown. We had been without a phone signal for four or five days, so we were totally unaware.

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“The government forces were not letting us carry on. We had to go to a place where we could get a signal but we were still in the mountains. We had to contact our embassies and wait for permission to get a bus back to Kathmandu. Lots of people from different parts of the world were in the same position.”

They were able to stay in a guest house in a tiny town for a couple of days while they waited.

Becca said: “There was no real road. I don’t know how the bus did it, with no real suspension. It was quite a journey.”

In Kathmandu, they were taken to a hotel and had to stay there for a couple of weeks, waiting for information and confirmation of a flight home.

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Becca said: “It was a big operation. Some people were really far in the mountains.

“We weren’t allowed out. It was basic but we had food. There was no real worry about supplies. The hotel were really kind and welcoming. We heard some people had trouble finding a place to stay, so we were lucky.

“I didn’t feel scared because I had made a few connections and I had met a lot of people during my time in Nepal. It was just really hard to get a picture of what was going on. It was difficult to gauge what was actually happening and frustrating, all we wanted to do was to get home to help.”

While they waited, they played cards and did online exercise classes to stay active.

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Becca said: “It is amazing what you can do. A friend set a daily art challenge with a theme, to make or draw something.”

There were two flights a week and when they were finally given a place, they were taken to the airport by bus. They had to have their temperature checked before they were allowed on.

Becce said: “We were given a blank ticket with no seat number and everyone had to wear a mask and a pair of gloves. On the plane, there was a bag on the seat with food snacks to keep you going.

“It was a very strange flight. It was 16 hours and we sat on the runway at Dubai for an hour for refuelling, we weren’t allowed off the plane. It was a funny ending to a wonderful trip.”

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When they arrived at Stansted, they were told there was no need to go into quarantine if you were not symptomatic.

Becca gave herself a week to recover before returning to Guy’s and St Thomas’ as bank staff.

She said: “The hospital is an entirely different place, it is like another world. It is like going into another planet. Everyone is in these suits and masks and kit. Every day is different, it is a question of managing skills. It is a challenge but the support has been amazing.”

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