WEST WINCH: Nurse who saved flood babies dies
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A nurse who helped save 22 children as King’s Lynn General Hospital was engulfed in freezing water and sewage has died at the age of 76.
Audrey Holden, from West Winch, worked at the hospital for more than 40 years, between 1954 and 1996, after starting her training when she was 17-years-old.
Such was her dedication, she breezed through exams and on her wedding day in 1957 she was told that she had passed her nursing exams.
Audrey married her husband, Tom, on July 27, and their only child, Kevin, was born two years later. The couple were unable to have any more children and from that point on Audrey dedicated her career to the children’s ward of the hospital.
She was promoted to Night Sister, before becoming an examiner for the General Nursing Council, and, in 1977, qualifying as the first Paediatric Nurse at King’s Lynn General Hospital.
In 1979, she was awarded an MBE for her dedication to nursing, and for helping to save the lives of 22 children, including four babies, as the hospital became flooded by freezing water.
When the town was devastated by floods in 1978, the hospital flooded with sewage and hospital staff quickly formed a human chain to evacuate the children to safety.
Her husband, Tom, said: “Audrey was just 5ft 2in and the water swamped her to her waist. Normally she would have been terrified of the water, but she was completely absorbed in saving the children, four of which had been operated on that morning.”
She retired at 60, after 43 years of nursing.
Tom said: “Audrey will always be remembered for her tireless fundraising to provide equipment for the children’s ward, and for hosting many functions for her friends and colleagues.
“She loved reading, crosswords and playing Scrabble, sometimes late into the night with her friend Ken.”
In 2010, she was admitted into a nursing home after being diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and Alzheimer’s Disease. She died exactly three years later, on February 14.
Tom said: “She will be sadly missed and remembered by her loving family and loyal friends, and the many, many children she dedicated her life to.”
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Weather for King's Lynn
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 4 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: North west
