Brighten Your Day

Co-workers generously donate over 80 hours of paid time off to help a friend

January 23, 2013

If you tell Pam Robertson that you don't go to work to make friends, she will tell you you're flat out wrong.

Pam had an accident off-duty that ended up breaking her wrist. The surgery fixed the break, but something went seriously wrong. The pain was getting worse instead of better. She headed back to the doctor and received some terrible news.

"He said, 'I don't know if I can ever get you back to work.' I had to lie down. I thought I was going to throw up."

Pam Robertson was suffering from a painful nerve disease called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. The healing process was going to take much longer than planned and would require months of physical therapy.

That meant Pam would not be able to work for a long time, and with the accident happening off-duty, she was forced to use all of her paid time off, personal days and sick days.

On New Year's Eve, Pam finally returned to work. She was 80 hours short on paid time off, but her co-workers changed that in no time.

All 80 hours were donated back to Pam. Every individual who donated time remains anonymous, which means not one of her co-workers expect a thank you. It was done out of pure kindness.

"There were more than the 80 hours that were donated," said Mary Thee, assistant Scott County administrator. "People offered more than she needed, but she already was covered because of so much generosity."

Pam was asked how much she enjoys her job on a scale of 1-10. She replied,"25!"

Source: http://qctimes.com