THE PHOTO I’LL ALWAYS TREASURE

My lifelong friendship with Janet Burns began on our first day at senior school in 1955. This photo was taken at a church outing in 1960 when we were 16. Janny (on the left) was diagnosed with hereditary kidney disease at 30 and her life became a never-ending round of hospital visits, operations and a kidney transplant. That lasted 19 years, then she had dialysis three times a week for five years. We lost her in October 2010, after an infection. We had spoken every day on the phone since schooldays and my husband and I still feel her loss acutely. Janny lives on through her niece, Lynette, with whom I correspond with regularly. Margaret O’Callaghan, Wolverhampton