Three years ago at the age of 60, Bernie McErlean was facing redundancy from her job in retail.
Yet just last week, she scooped a top award in her new profession, providing care for older people in their own homes.
The mum-of-five and grandmother-of-12 from West Belfast was crowned the Social Care Support Worker of the Year at the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Awards.
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Bernie only joined the team at Home Instead Down and Lisburn in 2019.
"After a 27-year career in retail, I took voluntary redundancy as a manager at a local supermarket petrol station, but then panicked about what to do next," Bernie told Belfast Live.
"I am a widow so I had no choice but to keep working and I felt this was my chance to do something that I had always wanted to do. Ever since I was a young girl, I have always wanted to look after people, so I decided to take the plunge.
"I had nursed my husband and my mummy so I had a feel for it and even though I was looking after close family members, I liked the care aspect.
"One of my daughters spotted a job advertisement with Home Instead. I went along to their office in Saintfield to have my first job interview in 40 years. Looking back, I wish I had made the move sooner, as I love being a Care Professional."
Bernie continued to provide companionship virtually to some clients when she couldn’t work during the initial lockdown and has also provided much needed comfort to her clients receiving end-of-life care.
She takes pride in forming true, meaningful relationships with clients to ensure she delivers vital companionship to reduce instances of isolation.
"You build up friendships with those you look after very fast as you're seeing them several times a week, while also making their life that bit easier.
"Ask me to mind children, the answer would be no but when it comes to older people, I just love it!" Bernie added.
The Northern Ireland Health and Social Awards celebrate the hard work, dedication, and commitment of all those involved with or working within the health and social care sector in Northern Ireland.
As well as highlighting Bernie’s dedication and achievements, the awards also champion the amazing work everyone in the industry does every day – work which is often overlooked.
Bernie celebrated her award win with the caring team at the glitzy award ceremony at the Crowne Plaza, Belfast.
"I am honoured to have been put forward for the prestigious award, let alone to win! We had a fantastic evening at the award ceremony," she said.
Lynn Elliott, owner of the Home Instead office where Bernie works, said: "Bernie, our very own Belfast superhero, is an exceptional Care Professional who always goes above and beyond to support her clients within their own homes.
"We are so proud of everything she has achieved over the last three years.
"The Northern Ireland Health and Social Awards ceremony was a truly fantastic evening.
"We are in a sector that can sadly be forgotten about, so it was so brilliant to see all manner of health and social care professionals at the same table, the way it should be – the Doctor and Nurse of The Year side by side with our Bernie."
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