“If anyone said to me that one day you will be a radio presenter, I would never have believed them, really, I am a shy person! Now I have my own show ‘Hits Through the Decades’ on Hospital Radio, Monday’s 8pm to 10 pm. Not only that but I’ve won the award for the most requests from listeners, with 23 to 24 requests per show from patients and staff.

I originally started at Derriford as a volunteer on Hembury ward during the COVID pandemic. It was a really a hard time to be working in the hospital as everyone knows. One day I was walking past an advert for Hospital Radio volunteers and I just thought , ‘They can only say no!’”, so in I went. My first show was supervised but after that I was on my own. I like to pretend that I am just talking to a friend or chatting to another person when I’m doing my show.

It’s not been the easiest of paths for me. When I was 19, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I found it really difficult to deal with. I ended up losing my job and my home, leaving me in the worst place mentally. I lost everything.

In April, I went for an operation to reduce some of the lesions on my brain that were contributing to my epilepsy. The hope was that it would reduce the number of fits I was having. Initially it all went well, and I returned to work slowly. In June, I was back on the wards when, suddenly, my colleagues and I noticed I was having speech problems. I went straight to the Emergency Department where they found I had a blood clot pressing against my wound. This meant another operation for me – but I was so lucky that my symptoms happened when I was in work where they were recognised. I was in the right place at the right time!

I’m now recovering well from the second operation and back to working with the patients, which I love. For me you never know what people are going through, everyone is experiencing their own battles. If I can make patients smile through playing songs that remind them of their youth, ones they used to boogy too or scream along with, that makes me happy.”

Speaking about Geoff’s journey, Ward Manager, Sam O’Driscoll said: “Geoff’s heart is the core of the unit. We never fail to play his show on the wards, as it cheers up all the patients. We call him DJ Jazzy Geoff! I am in awe of him and everything he has been through. We are so proud of him”.