The best one I had was about 5 years ago, we were on the last day of our holiday and the wife fractured her fibula, there was a local hospital nearby and they strapped it up and told us to go to a bigger hospital, well it was easier to drive home and go to our local,just in case she needed surgery.
We arrived at the hospital and there was nowhere to park, so after dropping her at A&E I parked opposite in a layby in the grounds, at the time I was doing dog handling, my van was all liveried up and the dog was in the back, it had been on holiday with us.
We went through all the procedures, X rays etc and I was pushing her to the plaster room (no porters), we passed a security guard and overheard on his radio about an illegally parked vehicle. Apparently they didn't want to clamp it or whatever as it looked official, and it had a dog in the back!
I asked the guard if it was a dog van and he said it was, I explained it was my vehicle, and what had happened, he got back on the radio and told them he'd located the owner and not to clamp it as, A) I had brought an injured person in, and B) I was one of their own!
That was the second time that driving a liveried vehicle had saved me from grief on a hospital car park, the private clamping firms can be a shower of gits, but the security guards are fine.
When my mother died, I got a call from the hospital saying get up there straight away, I was on the dogs at the time and although it sounds daft, because I was in bed when the call came, I just grabbed my uniform and put it on,(it was clean and ironed and the nearest thing to hand) my mum always insisted on being smart when you visited hospital.
I roared up to the hospital,lights blazing and just abandoned the vehicle on the area reserved for dignitaries, which was right outside the main entrance. when I came out about an hour later, it was still parked there,the lights were still flashing and it had been coned off!
The guard on duty had seen me arrive and go running into the hospital and assumed I was dealing with an emergency,so he'd just kept an eye on it.I explained to him that my mother had died and appologised for just dumping my motor where I had left it, he just said "don't worry mate,you do what you have to do".
They were really nice at that hospital, the consultant took me to his office and we chatted about mums sudden death, I couldn't fault any of the staff, however I do think that all large hospitals should have a special parking area just for people who are dealing with death or major trauma. When a loved on is seriously ill the last thing you need is to spend time looking for a parking space.
