PETRONELLA BENJAMIN

● Western Cape nurse Petronella “Ouma Nellie” Benjamin returned to work after a bout of bronchitis even though her children begged her not to.

The 62-year-old grandmother and pastor died on April 29, the day before she was due to retire after 40 years’ service.

Her husband Edwin couldn’t attend her funeral because he is fighting Covid-19 in an intensive care unit.

“She died with her boots on and contracted the virus while fighting on the frontlines of the battle against this pandemic,” said her brother-in-law, Rudy Cookson.

Her sons Marvin and O’Neal and her daughter Alicia Maart, also a nurse, said their mother fell ill a few days after returning to work, which she insisted on doing because “there are people who rely heavily on me”.

“I lead by example,” she told Marvin. He said: “What I will always cherish about her is the love she had for her family. Just before she was admitted to hospital I came to see her at home and she wouldn’t let me come near her.

“She said, ‘Go back and be with your family.’ I know now that she wanted to protect me.”

Benjamin was buried on Wednesday, and whittling down the funeral list to just 50 was a dreadful task.

Those who couldn’t be there lined the streets of her home suburb, Eerste River, in salute of “Ouma Nellie”.

“That was the most moving moment … to see hundreds of people making a guard of honour for my mother. The community she served loved her,” said Marvin.

He and his siblings said not being able to be with their mother at the end had been very painful.