“The nurses were just incredible, they were angels” – Salford woman writes poem about her eating disorder treatment

Esther Koch, 24, was admitted to Salford Royal Hospital a couple of years ago and has now written a poem called “Angels” about her experience there.

She said: “It’s just such a great hospital and they’ve done so well during the pandemic. I was in the high dependency unit and the nurses were just incredible, they were angels.

“My mental health condition affected me physically and I was very very poorly.”

“It might not be full of imagery of Salford landmarks, but it’s about what really makes Salford. It’s the people and the institutions and Salford Royal is the main institution Salford has going for it.”

Esther is part of a spoken word poetry group in Manchester called “Young identity”.

The group was founded in 2006 and aims to transform the lives of young people through the arts.

Shirley Corbett, CEO of Young Identity said: “I’ve seen people’s mental health improve because of poetry.

“It’s quite therapeutic really, it reveals things about yourself but also allows you to decompartmentalise some of the stuff you might be going through.

“I think that poetry has always been around in our city and now it’s becoming extremely popular with those who are actors and performers.”

“Esther finds most of her poetry inspiration in particular places in Salford and Manchester.

She has also worked with food banks in Salford to highlight the inequality in the city through poetry.