#HelloMyNameIs Day 2018: World celebrates Leeds Dr Kate Granger's NHS campaign legacy

A simple '˜hello', an introduction, and a smile can go a long way when it comes to putting a patient at ease.
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Two years on from her death, the mantra of Leeds’ own Dr Kate Granger, and her legacy, continues to gather pace as it sweeps across the world.

Today marks international #HelloMyNameIs Day, set up by her widower, Chris Pointon, to celebrate her life and the noble campaign that she established.

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Dr Granger, from East Ardsley, died aged 34 on July 23, 2016, after being diagnosed with a rare and incurable cancer five years earlier.

While battling the disease, she set up the #HelloMyNameIs campaign, in the hope of encouraging medics to introduce themselves after her own experiences as a patient.

The day will be an emotional one, her widower Mr Pointon said, as it also marks what would have been the couple’s 13th wedding anniversary.

“The reason why we set the day itself was to remember the inspiration behind the campaign – but also for people to stop and take a moment to remember Kate,” he told the YEP.

“She meant so much to so many people across the world.”

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As part of the international day, people are being urged to keep the campaign’s message flowing by using the #HelloMyNameIs hashtag on Twitter and other social media sites.

People across the world have been asked to observe either a minute’s silence – or a round of applause – at 3.20pm, the time Dr Granger died two years ago.

“The poignancy of the 3.20pm time is that our wedding ceremony started at 3pm,” Mr Pointon, 41, said.

“We would have been saying our vows then and it’s almost to the minute 11 years on.”

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It was also the same time that she and Mr Pointon exchanged wedding vows in 2005.

Other ideas to get involved in the day include charity cake sales or introducing name badges for staff using the campaign’s logo.

Donations are asked to be made out to St Gemma’s Hospice or Leeds Cancer Centre.

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