Mum’s joy over chance reunion with nurse who saved her daughter’s life
A chance meeting has seen a mum reunited with the woman who helped save her daughter’s life years earlier.
Rebecca Morris, who used to live in Castle Donington, encountered Gemma Harris while out having a meal at her local pub in Sutton Bonington, but the link between the pair wasn’t immediately clear as they had a chat.
It was only when their conversation went on that Gemma’s significance became apparent.
Years before their pub meeting, Rebecca’s daughter Emily, who is now eight, had been seriously ill with pneumonia shortly before her second birthday.
She was so ill that she ended up in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Queen’s Medical Centre, in Nottingham, after being transferred via Glenfield Hospital.
Reliving the events, Rebecca said: “We were really quite worried about her – she was very, very poorly.”
“It was very serious. We prepared ourselves for the worst at one point.
“Luckily, in the end, she improved and then got stronger and stronger each day.”
It was while at Nottingham that Emily was treated by none other than Gemma.
“Emily was so ill that we weren’t allowed in with her and it takes ages when the patient is that poorly,” said Gemma.
“We knew she was in the best hands, but to know Gemma was there with her is amazing.”
The discovery at the pub was made even better because Gemma immediately remembered helping treat and look after Emily because of her dark hair.
If that wasn’t enough, the present-day links between the families are close, too, with Gemma having a son in the same year as Emily’s brother, Henry, at Sutton Bonington Primary School.
It means that Rebecca and Gemma regularly see each other at the school gates.
“It feels like more than a coincidence – it does feel like fate!” said Ms Morris.
“The fact that she remembered Emily so well shows that it isn’t just a job – each and every case affects them and they do an incredible job.”
With the pair now in each other’s lives on a regular basis, Rebecca arranged a reunion for her daughter with Gemma after school.
“It was quite a moment,” she said. “Emily always knew about her illness. But to be able to introduce Gemma to her again was quite emotional.”
It was very serious. We prepared ourselves for the worst at one point
Rebecca Morris on her daughter’s illness