Swinton Lions forward Lewis Hatton has revealed how he will be helping battle the coronavirus with the NHS.
The 23-year-old former Rochdale Hornets player is in the final year of his training to be a nurse and is one of thousands set to be fast-tracked into hospitals in the coming weeks.
Hatton last week opted into the government’s scheme to help the NHS deal with the pandemic and will now be deployed into a local hospital.
He explained: “Because I’m in the last six months of my training I had the option to opt in.
“It’s the same thing I’ve been training for and it’s just come earlier than I expected, but sometimes it’s better to be thrown in at the deep end.
“It’s a bit nerve-wracking but I wanted to give it a go.
“We had an email round this week saying it was urgent and we had to let them know by Wednesday.”
Working for the NHS was always a probability for Hatton through his family links.
He said: “My mum Ann-Marie is a midwife so I’m following in her footsteps.
“I was originally a health-care assistant at a residential home. Meeting nurses regularly there I saw the impact they were having on patients’ lives and decided to give it a go too.
“My other half Lyndsey is a physiotherapist with East Lancashire NHS too.
“She’s been on the frontline as well, because she visits a lot of older people with mobility problems and has had to carry on working.”
All of this means that Rugby League has taken a temporary back seat for the former St Helens, Salford and Warrington junior, although he certainly won’t be overlooking it in the coming weeks, having relished his time at the Lions so far.
He added: “It’s been good – it’s great to get a lot of game time.
“Stuart Littler is a good coach and it’s been a good experience so far.
“I’ve been everywhere really – I started in Saints’ 19s, then went to Salford’s 19s and Warrington reserves.
“From there I signed for Rochdale under Alan Kilshaw and did a couple of years there.
“I’ve still been ticking over with my training and have a little garage gym set up.
“The lads have a WhatsApp group where we get set homework as we’ve put it, and we’re keeping in touch with the coaching and strength and conditioning staff.
“We’d just started to get going and now the season’s stopped, but we can’t do anything about that.”
