Dancing doctors and nurses were a memorable part of the Olympic opening ceremony last Friday and Hackney NHS staff were amongst them.

Around 33 employees of the East London NHS Foundation Trust, which covers the City, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham, successfully auditioned to be part of the spectacular show which saw them dance, drum and rearrange glow-in-the-dark beds to form different shapes.

They did 150 hours of training for the big night since rehearsals started in April.

Hackney community outreach support team worker and Hackney resident Jack Moody was one of the thousand drummers in the industrial revolution section of the show.

“I felt proud to be part of a production telling the history of the UK,” he said. “My family were farmers and then miners in Yorkshire and this transition was their story.

“The next section promoting the hard work of the NHS made me feel happy that we as employees were all being recognised.”

He added: “I don’t know how to describe being applauded by 80,000 people! My ears feel like they are still ringing, I have not been able to sleep because I still feel like I am buzzing from the experience.”

Trustwide research manager Karin Albani said she had “butterflies” before the performance.

“Coming into the stadium with all the lights and the sound of the crowd was unforgettable,” she said. “It was the most fun ever, worth every damp, cold, sometimes boring, hour upon hour of rehearsal time.”

She added: “The atmosphere at Eaton Manor, where most of us were getting in costume, was amazing! It felt like a movie set with ladies in Jane Austen bonnets picnicking with glam rockers; coal miners and Carry On nurses posing together for photographs.”