The memory of a gifted pharmacy student has been honoured at the University of Sunderland graduation ceremonies with a special award presented to a graduate who has demonstrated caring and compassionate qualities during their degree course.
Jemma O’ Sullivan was just 22 when she was killed in a motorway crash in 2010, and since the tragedy the fourth year student’s family, friends and fellow students have kept her memory alive by engaging in a number of fundraising activities for good causes.
To mark a lasting legacy for Jemma in the University’s Department of Pharmacy, Health and Well-being, her parents, Vincent and Margaret O’Sullivan, have sponsored a special award - the Jemma O'Sullivan Award for Care and Compassion in the Practice of Pharmacy.
The award, which celebrates the caring qualities shown by Jemma during her degree course, was presented to pharmacy graduate Haihua Sih, during the summer graduation ceremonies at the Stadium of Light.
Haihua was presented with a special glass gift by Jemma’s parents, as well as a cheque to support her future career. A large glass memorial, created at National Glass Centre, will also be permanently placed in the foyer of the University’s Sciences Complex. Recipients of the annual award will have their names engraved onto a plaque that will stand next to the glass memorial.
Haihua, 23, from Malaysia, said: “I’m overwhelmed to receive this award, it’s such an honour to be the very first person selected to win. It has been a humbling experience meeting Jemma’s parents and it’s wonderful they are honouring her in this way.
“This has been an incredible week for me; I’ve graduated from Sunderland with a 2:1, celebrated my 23rd birthday, and have then won this wonderful award.
“I think I was selected as I have shown a lot of understanding and patience during my pharmacy placement, and I’m incredibly passionate about this subject.”
MPharm graduate Huihua is now embarking on her pre-registration training at a community pharmacy in Chopwell, Gateshead.
Roz Anderson, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Sunderland, who has taught both Jemma and Haihua, said: “Jemma’s parents were very keen that the award didn’t necessarily reflect the top academic performance, but was about demonstrating the caring and compassionate qualities of a pharmacist.
“These are qualities I always think about when I think of Jemma; a really friendly person who was easy to talk to. When she met people dying of cancer during a placement at North Tyneside Hospital, she was able to communicate with sensitivity and warmth with patients and wasn’t phased by the situation.”
“A number of pharmacy undergraduates, when they meet someone who is critically ill or terminal, don’t know what to say or how to talk to them. You need to have that compassion and empathy to understand that person’s position, and how important it is for you to be able to speak to them on an everyday level, treating them like a person, not just as a patient. Jemma had a wonderful ability to do just that.”
She added: “As this award is not based on academic achievements we asked all of our placement providers for nominations. The placement providers are the professional pharmacists – so who better to ask who is deserving of this award?”
“Haihua is certainly deserving of this award. The qualities she displayed during her placement were about valuing patients and building a relationship on trust, care and compassion, as well as being a really good team player.”
Jemma, from Limerick in the Republic of Ireland, was a passenger in a Citroen Berlingo on the M8, near Warmsworth, Doncaster, in September 2010, when a lorry crashed into it. The driver, who was texting at the time, was jailed for five years after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.
Since her death her family and friends have raised more than £100,000 to support a hospice pharmacy in South Africa treating people with HIV/AIDS.