Oliver’s Lab Tour

On Thursday, 10th October, NHS Dumfries and Galloway welcomed a very special visitor for his first Harvey's Lab Tour. Six-year-old Oliver, along with his mum Emma and his paediatric nurse Sharron, arrived for a very exciting day of learning. Oliver, who has Autoimmune Haemolytic Anaemia, has always been curious about where his blood samples go, and this tour gave him a chance to see it all first-hand.

The day began with a surprise, as the team presented Oliver with his own lab coat and a special goodie bag to take home. He proudly wore his Harvey’s Lab Tours T-shirt, stepping into the role of junior scientist. His favourite part was receiving his very own Harvey bear, which hasn’t left his side since.

The team even sent Oliver’s squishy penguin toy on a trip through the lab’s tube system to the children’s ward, where it returned with a personalised message. Then came a chance to view a slide of his own blood under the microscope. Oliver was amazed to see his very own cells and even spotted a funny face emoji hidden in his neutrophils.

Oliver also got hands-on with pipetting and tried out some colourful reactions, discovering more about the fascinating world of biomedical science.

Gayle, one of the biomedical scientists, shared how much Oliver’s enthusiasm and joy uplifted everyone’s spirits and left a lasting impact on the team:

"It was so lovely to see how excited Oliver was discovering everything in the labs. Oliver loved it so much he even wanted to come and start work with us the following Monday! A true scientist in the making."