Santa’s last rounds at the Gilbert Bain
After more than a decade of ward rounds at the Gilbert Bain hospital, Santa Claus is hanging up the red robes, nylon beard and fuzzy, festive garters.
Every other day of the year, David Fryer is a consultant physician specialising in hormone disorders.
But for the past 10 Christmases Dr Fryer has come in, often off the clock, to lift the spirits of patients spending the holidays lain up in hospital.
Helped this year by a shortage of elves (the children of other consultants), Dr Fryer started his tour in the medical ward.
“You go round the patients, hand out a little gift and say ‘ho ho ho,'” Dr Fryer said. “It’s quite a fun morning.”
Then it’s off to the surgical ward and finished with a lap of the maternity unit, which was empty this year.
“I’m not sure the babies really remember that,” Dr Fryer admits, “and the mothers have a far better present than I can offer them.”
Slight and clean-shaven, Dr Fryer is, by his own admission, not of a traditional Father Christmas build.
But with the help of a hospital bed pillow strapped at the waist he has filled out the hospital’s Father Christmas outfit since he first moved to Shetland from Newcastle in 2013.
After hanging up his stethoscope for good in the new year, Dr Fryer said he’s looking forward to retiring back South to Shropshire.
And as for who will take up the reindeers’ reins?
“I don’t know what’s going to happen but I think finding a replacement for Santa is less of a problem than finding a replacement physician,” said Dr Fryer.
“I think Santa will be an easier ask.”
• Read more stories from a decade of Christmas rounds in this week’s edition of The Shetland Times, out Friday, 26th December.
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