Ghostly Child at Care Home.

[Pasiphae]

I'll start this off by telling you that for confidentiality reasons, I can't name the place, but those with local knowledge *might just figure it out.

My Father is a retired pyschiatric nurse, used to seeing all matters of strange behavior and quite adept at 'sussing out' peoples wind ups. (The Med Proffession quite enjoys spooking each other) He does agency work for care homes to keep him ticking over and as such comes into contact with some unexplained phenomina. (S/p?)

One night he was asked to report to an old care home, it was converted from an old Victorian Orphanage and to provide a one to one with an elderly patient, so he was carrying out his duties until his rest hour came up, the nurses generally take a cat nap during this hour and he was told that there was a bed up in the 'tower'.

The tower was a false turret affair that was sometimes included on these old buildings with a winding staircase and and other ornamental paraphenalia.

So he went up ther for his kip, he couldn't sleep and, as stated before, the meds like to play tricks on each other, he was kept awake by footsteps going up and down the winding flight of steps.

So he laid there in the cold room and tried to get whatever rest he could until his hour was up, then he went down to the canteen to make a cuppa.

He didn't mention the steps as he thought they were having a laugh at the expense of the agency guy.

Later in the night the old lady took a turn for the worse (she survived, incidently) and had to be moved to another area where she could be better cared for.

She was taken on the wheeled bed into the lift accompanied by my Father and another nurse, as they emerged from the lift he felt as he put it "A pinch on the a*se", thinking it was the other other nurse getting fruity he gave her a funny look and pushed the bed down the corridor.

The other nurse went to the front of the bed and was guiding it along while my Father was pushing it, then he felt a little push behind him, he looked and there was no-one there so on he went, further down he felt what could only be described as a 'slap' to the back of his head, again no one there and then he says he could swear he heard a childs giggle.

By now he was spooked and pushed the bed a lot quicker than he should of done, got the old lady to her bay and left for the canteen with the other nurse (keeping her behind him!)

He finally told the other staff about what had happened and they didn't seem too surprised, with one telling him about the little lad who 'lives' up there and that my Father shouldn't worry as all this playfullness means that the boy likes him. The youngster was apparently a child who died of one of the many dieseases that abounded in Victorian times, the 'tower' was used by the orphanage as a sort of quarantine area.

I should probably add that one of the day staff had brought one of his own kids in and at shift change my Father had been joking and playing with the 'real' boy, because of this my Father reckons the Ghost latched onto him.

He's been back since, but doesn't stay in the 'tower' anymore, he's had a few more playful pushes but he doesn't mind and seems to like the fact that a little kid from years ago can still have fun.

[Agent_21]

That's a good account. I find it very believable especially, as you say, your father would most likely to be 'on' to any trickery. I've noticed pinches and nudges get reported quite a lot, particularly in pubs and inns.

One of my uncles worked at a hospital in London and knew full well what medical students got up to. But there were disembodied footsteps, a reputed ghost nurse and a prominant figure from the establishment's history allegedly haunting it - and certain members of the staff took these things quite seriously. My uncle didn't consider them frivolous people.

A:21

[Cufflink]

Hospitals and care homes are overlooked for ghostly goings-on, which is surprising, considering the history of many.

Often the current institution is using the same building as a previous one, (as in Pasiphae's account), and these are often places of great trauma or suffering.

My local hospital in South Manchester uses some of the buildings of a Victorian workhouse, and the psychiatric wards are built over an old graveyard.

[Cufflink]

I've just remembered a site I sometimes visit.

There's an abandoned hospital in Oklahoma, in the US, which is reported to be haunted. A local ghost hunting group have set up several web cams in the building, which run 24/7.

Check it out, and who knows what you might see.

Great site.

http://www.researchwebcam.com/

[dancin'hamster]

should I post some of my nurses stories for you?

[Cufflink]

should I post some of my nurses stories for you?

I had a cheap, childish answer to this, but I stopped myself.

You mean nurses-on-night-duty-type-stories?

Bring 'em on, girl.

[Agent_21]

Heh-heh. Go on Hammy, go on.

Hope you shake off that cold quickly BTW.

A:21

[Pasiphae]

I'd love to read some of your nurse stories, Hammy.

I'll try to convince my wife (a nurse, incidently) to tell me of some of the rumours that go around the wards she's worked on, she doesn't often speak of them as it's something that she (understandably) prefers to ignore.

Cheers, Pasiphae.