Morecambe Bay hospitals clinician writes heartfelt song in memory of NHS colleagues who have died of Covid-19

‘My Heart is Blue’, a moving ballad about the stark reality of Covid-19, has been created by David Webster, a Resuscitation Practice Educator at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT).

David’s song captures the grief and sense of loss that he and many people working in the NHS feel about losing much-loved colleagues.

The vocals of 17-year-old Lucy Satterthwaite and David’s sensitive lyrics also convey the deep sadness felt by people across the world at losing loved ones due to the virus.

The Chaplaincy Team at UHMBT is now hoping to play ‘My Heart is Blue’ at future memorial events for those who have died as a result of Covid-19.

David, 52, who has lived in Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria for the last 20 years with his wife Ruth and daughters, Iona, 16 and Zoe, 18, said: “I have written my song as a tribute to my NHS colleagues.

“The song was my way of dealing with what has been going on; I have had a huge feeling of sadness about all of the NHS staff who have died.

“The virus came out of the blue. Suddenly is was everywhere. People started getting ill and dying. I train staff across the whole of the Trust and the anxiety levels have been extremely high.”

David loves to play guitar and has performed with friends in many of the pubs and clubs across south Cumbria and north Lancashire.

Songwriting is a relatively new venture for David and he has recently started recording with Lucy Satterthwaite, one of his daughter’s friends.

David said: “In the last 18 month’s I’ve started working with Lucy. I had been trying to persuade Lucy to have a go at writing songs so I thought I’d better have a go myself.

“I wrote My Heart is Blue at the end of March. I got a lot of satisfaction from writing the song.

“Due to the lockdown I was not able to meet with Lucy. I sent her a very dodgy vocal that I’d recorded so she knew the sort of thing I was hoping for.

“Then Lucy recorded a vocal using basic headphones and mic. It was amazing!

“However, the sound quality wasn’t great so once the Government said people could meet up at a safe distance, we did another recording. The recording was done in the porch of a small church with social distancing in mind. I was pleased with the result and so was Lucy.”

Prior to working for UHMBT and moving to Grange, David and Ruth did voluntary work in a school in Papua New Guinea for two years.

Before that David was a Paramedic with the Cumbria Ambulance Service (now part of the North West Ambulance Service) for around 15 years and was a community resuscitation instructor. During that time he has proud to implement the National Defibrillator Programme in Cumbria.

Prior to joining UHMBT, David also worked as a Resuscitation Officer for the former Cumbria Partnership Trust. Ruth is the Headteacher of St Paul’s Junior School in Barrow and has taught in various schools across the South Lakes.

David enjoys his job as a Practice Educator as he meets people from across the trust and teaches them how to do basic, intermediate and advanced resuscitation. He is a part of a team of six who are also ‘on call’ on hospital sites if someone has a cardiac arrest and needs to be resuscitated.

David said: “It can be quite a challenging job. Resuscitation is at the sharp end of emergency care. I often get called out to the Emergency Department at Furness General Hospital to support a resuscitation. Playing music is my way of dealing with the pressures.”

Deacon Deborah Wilde, Lead Chaplain at Furness General Hospital, said: “David's song sensitively describes the feelings of many of us who have encountered loss in these past few months.

“David wrote the song as he reflected on NHS colleagues who have died caring for others. We hope that this song will be used in future memorial services at UHMBT when we can remember those who died in this pandemic.

“My heart is Blue is a beautiful and thoughtful tribute to those who will be remembered for their service and their care.”

Lucy, who lives near Newby Bridge in Cumbria and is in Year 12 at Ulverston Victoria High School, said: “I think we are very lucky to have such a dedicated team of workers for the NHS, many of whom have put their life on the line to help people with this killer virus.

“I hope, through my voice, people can relate to the difficulties facing the NHS workers and others affected by the virus.

“I think David’s song is very creative and touching and I very much enjoy singing it. David and I have been performing together for almost two years now and we perform a lot of covers. To sing an original song written by David means a great deal to me.”

After completing her A-levels, Lucy hopes to go to University to study Psychology as she is passionate about mental health.

David added: “I hope people will see my song as a tribute and that they will get something from listening to it.”

The song is available on iTunes. Search My Heart is Blue by David Webster to listen.