The students, inspired by their international placement at the Roka Referral Hospital in the developing nation, ran into the cold waters of the North Sea for their fundraising effort.
The students wore their Cambodian nursing uniforms and held hands as they took part in the challenge.
Cambodia is a country with a significant shortage of health professionals and facilities, and the students hope their initiative will provide direct support for the hospital, as well as raise awareness about global disparities in healthcare access.
They were part of a self-funded nursing placement in Cambodia in 2024, where they attended Battambang Provincial Hospital and Roka Referral Hospital, as well as local villages and a school.
They witnessed first-hand the extreme poverty and immense challenges facing healthcare workers in these resource-limited settings.Nursing student Sophie Wright (Image: TEWV)
Middlesbrough’s Sophie Wright, one of the third-year nursing students involved in the effort, said: “I’ve loved all my nursing placements, but what I saw in Cambodia was a real eye-opener.”
Ms Wright, has completed placements in hospitals and settings in the region, such as West Park Hospital in Darlington, Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Newton Aycliffe, and Roseberry Park Hospital in Middlesbrough,
She said: “We visited hospitals in Cambodia where there is no privacy and extreme overcrowding.
“Children were being born in a shared room without painkillers, and families were mourning their loved ones in the middle of a busy hospital.The condition in the Cambodian hospital (Image: TEWV)
“At the end of some days, I just couldn’t stop crying.
“It was not what we’d expected.
“When I got back to the UK, I was really upset for quite a while, I felt empty and sad.
“I realised there are many things I take for granted.”
The students have raised more than £2,000 so far and have received more than 100 donations from the local community, with more still coming in.
Ms Wright said: “I was shocked. I had hoped people would donate.
“But when I looked at our Go Fund Me page and it was going up and up… I didn’t expect it.
“It kept pinging with lovely messages.”
Ms Wright, who hopes to become a mental health nurse for Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust when she graduates said she was shocked by the disparities in mental health care between her placements in the North East compared with the facilities she visited in Cambodia.
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She added: “The money we’ve raised so far will be enough to pay for a year’s wage in Cambodia. We’re hoping it can be put to good use.”
The students plan to continue their fundraising efforts, considering the Great North Run and the Three Peaks Challenge as their next ventures.
To donate or learn more about the campaign, visit the Boxing Day Dip for Cambodia Healthcare GoFundMe page.