MacKenzie "Big Mac" Chalker

MacKenzie "Big Mac" Chalker, better known to his friends and colleagues simply as Mac, is a health care assistant at Holby General Hospital's Emergency Department. He was initially a porter upon his arrival in the department in 2007 but later trained to become a emergency care assistant for extra money in 2013. In 2014, he retrained to become a health care assistant and work back in the ED following Jeff Collier's death.

Early life
Big Mac was born to a shy, and deaf, mother and a father who left him when he was 5 years old. As a result, Big Mac's mother smothered him, giving him what he wanted and this made him lazy. He eventually joined the army as a veteran of the Falklands War of 1982, where many of his fellow soldiers were killed while he survived. He eventually became a cook instead, but the fear of being shot took over and he deserted. He went back home to his mother who was diagnosed cancer and Mac spent a lot of time in hospitals due to this. This also made Mac become a hypochondriac as if his mother had taken her symptoms seriously, she may have still been alive.

Time in the Emergency Department (2007-)
Mac started working as a porter in Holby City ED in November 2007. On his first day, he was revealed to be a computer whiz, and he traced the creator of the Toxic Shark blog that was describing events happening in the ED. A couple of weeks later, Mac failed to clean up a puddle on the floor which Adam later slipped on. He attributed this to his bad back, and also told the rest of the staff that he wouldn't be able to push patients who weighed over over 15 stone. By December, Mac had built friendships within the ED, particularly with the nursing staff whom he shared a new years celebration with in the staff room. However, Tess soon stormed in and sent them all back to work.

In January 2008, Big Mac found and carried Tess into resus after she was injected with an unknown substance by new nurse Lewis. After she was able to tell them who was responsible, the hospital was sealed off, and Big Mac was eventually able to apprehend Lewis. Lewis told them that he only did it because Tess took him out of resus due to his lack of experience, and that he wanted to be there saving lives.

In March, Mac set up a fake profile in order to get a date with staff nurse Kelsey Phillips, but ultimately stood her up due to nerves.

In June 2010, Mac was supposedly cursed by a woman named Grace. Petrified, he later got a blood test, MRI and urine samples done, and eventually Noel and Jay took advantage of him by telling him the only way he could remove the curse was to draw around the whole hospital in chalk, which he did.

In January 2012 following renovations of the ED as a result of the fire, Mac managed to catch a young boy when his father accidentally dropped him off of a balcony outside the ED. He was praised for his heroic actions by everyone. During the Holby riots that July, Mac took care of a young boy found on the streets and Linda's niece and nephew whilst chaos descended upon the ED.

In September, Mac was left feeling isolated from his friends after having an argument with Louise. However, he was soon kept on his toes when his long lost friend Snapper arrived at the ED after having been injured during a storm. Weeks later, Mac suffered a heart attack and took a period of leave from work. He returned in mid October despite protests from both Noel and Louise, however he was able to help a patient in need but soon found his good intentions questioned by Dylan.

In March 2013, Mac took part in a half marathon in Holby, and seemingly met the women of his dreams. However, when she mistook him for a doctor he failed to correct her which led to her walking away when she found out the truth about his career. In July, Louise once again grew angry with Big Mac when he took pity on a homeless man.

In October, Mac successfully helped a man overcome his claustrophobia which led Louise to encourage him to apply for the vacant position of an emergency care assistant. The following week, Louise applied in Mac's name anyway which left him angry, but he soon found out that he had been successful in the application. He had his first shift as an emergency care assistant in early December, and on his first day helped treat two brothers who had driven into a concrete block.

mIn March 2014, Iain and Big Mac were called out to a fire at a local B&B. However, they soon found themselves in a hostage situation when one of Iain's old army colleagues who was staying at the B&B went looking for him. In November, Mac attended a war memorial service, but was still struggling to cope with Jeff's death and requested a transfer back to the ED. He was later appointed the position of healthcare assistant in order to assist the nursing team.

By the end of January 2015, Mac had settled into his new job in the ED, but also encountered some money troubles. This led him to a pawn shop where he planned to sell some of his possessions for some extra cash, but whilst there he encountered a window cleaner who had been stabbed in the leg. Once at the hospital, Mac discovered that he wasn't the only one with money troubles as the window cleaner was on his way to deliver debt money to his aggressive brother. The following week, Honey became concerned when she caught Mac stealing stock from the food bank which Robyn had set up weeks earlier in an attempt to be more helpful.

In June, Mac found a talisman in the road which he believed saved his life after narrowly avoiding being crushed by a falling electrical box. Dylan went on to possess it and as a result it contributed towards his OCD. In August, Dixie and Big Mac worked together to help an elderly female couple get married, fifty years after their engagement. At Zoe and Max's wedding, Noel and Big Mac accidentally hired prostitutes as dates, leaving Ethan to pay the bill.

In September 2015 during a terrorist infiltration of the ED, Big Mac was taken hostage by the terrorists and asked to film them making Denise Ellison read a note before they would kill her. However, the police arrived and rescued him along with Jacob and Connie who had already entered the room inadvertently.

In January 2016 in the morning after a night shift, Noel was attacked whilst walking home through the park with Big Mac. The attacker, Mercedes Christie, was attempting to pay off her debt and saw Noel on his phone and tried to take it. However, things soon got out of hand and Noel was left unconscious and seriously injured. Meanwhile, Big Mac cowardly hid in the toilets. Back at the ED, Noel was treated but Big Mac had frequent encounters with the attacker when she arrived at the ED. Eventually, Big Mac paid her the money she wanted, £70, so that she wouldn't expose him to his colleagues as a coward. Noel was left under the impression that Big Mac had been a hero and saved him.

In February Noel returned to work, desperate to give Mac the recognition he deserved and even contacted the media to see if they'd be interested in covering the story. The article got published the following week, and his guilt began to overwhelm him when he was regarded as a hero by the press. Later in February, Mercedes returned to the ED after having fallen during a police chase an injuring her abdomen. He soon began to sympathise with her situation and she begged him not to tell the police despite his concerns to her about lying to Noel. However Kate Wilkinson, the police officer who investigated the attack, spoke to Big Mac when she thought he was acting strange around Mercedes. Eventually she revealed to him that they had found Mercedes' DNA at the scene of the attack and therefore made the connection between them. The police then revealed the truth to Noel, and he told Mac he was moving out due to the fact he had lied.

In March, Jack and Louise locked Noel and Big Mac in the storage cupboard together until they could resolve their differences. Despite initially arguing, they eventually came to terms with one another and Noel forgave Mac. However, Big Mac had frequently visited Zoe in search of repeat prescriptions for painkillers which were initially prescribed for him following his bad back sustained during Noel's attack. Zoe eventually told Mac that he wouldn't need them anymore and to go and see his GP, but he became dependant on them. He later helped Robyn unpack the drugs delivery but when some were dropped on the floor, he took the opportunity to pocket a few.

In April, Mac gave Mercedes some drugs he got from the pharmacy after he volunteered to pick up some prescription medication. She told him to give her some and that they could help each other out, but he was reluctant to have any further involvement in supplying her with drugs. Later in the month, Charlie and Rita started to become suspicious when they discovered that the amount of tramadol they were getting in from the pharmacy didn't match the amount which was being given to patients. As a result, Mac told Mercedes after she turned up at the ED wanting more that he would be unable to. She threatened to reveal his secret to everyone if he didn't so he ordered some more tramadol from the pharmacy but was unable to pick them up when interrupted by a suspicious Charlie. After the shift, Mac confided in Noel about his addiction and the fact he was the one taking the drugs from the stock. They told Mercedes that she should leave him be, as she didn't want another court case in additon to the mugging one. Noel set Mac up with a chance to go to an NA meeting, but he turned away just before walking in.

Personal life
Big Mac lives on the Farmead Estate, an estate full of thugs and gangs of youths. Here, he has become a vigilante, protecting the less capable people of the estate.

When Jessica Harrison moved onto the estate, Mac helped her out with a lot of things. Jessica saw a different side to Mac. He was scared of the gangs and violence, as he was in the war. He just let them do what they wanted, including trashing his flat.

Trivia

 * His mother died of a long drawn out cancer.
 * He fought for Tess' rights when they tried to make her a scapegoat.
 * He had a crush on Kelsey, but nothing ever came of it.
 * He hates being called 'Apple Mac'.

Behind the scenes
Big Mac is portrayed by Charles Dale on ''Casualty. ''With the departure of Kathleen "Dixie" Dixon in January 2016, Dale became the second longest serving current cast member.

Appearances

 * See also: Character appearances and Category:Big Mac centric.

Big Mac made his first appearance in the episode "How Soon is Now?". To date, he has had five centric episodes.