MBE Red Cross nurse loses battle for life
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 31st January 2002.
The head of the Red Cross has paid tribute to a nurse who has lost her long battle with cancer.
Pauline Dodds, 47, died peacefully at her home in Trumpington. She was recently awarded an MBE for her part in aid missions at trouble spots around the world.
Miss Dodds was cared for around the clock by a team of her nurses and friends some from Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, others Red Cross nurses she had met in places such as Bosnia and Chechnya.
Miss Dodds, who grew up at Kedington, near Haverhill, was made an MBE in the New Year's Honours List for her services to the Red Cross.
She worked as a sister in intensive care at Addenbrooke's Hospital before taking her skills to some of the world's most dangerous places, including the Gaza Strip, Afghanistan, Somalia and East Timor.
Sir Nicholas Young, chief executive of the British Red Cross, paid tribute to Miss Dodds' 10-year career with the organisation.
"She received the MBE shortly before she died and told us how pleased she was that the work of Red Cross nurses had been recognised in this way," he said.
"Pauline leaves many friends throughout the Red Cross."
Miss Dodds' brother Ken, who lives in America, said she was recognised within the Red Cross as someone who would take on their most dangerous missions.
She was once held hostage at gunpoint for 24 hours in Somalia and was often accompanied by a bodyguard and armed escorts.
"She was a very tough lady. She set up pre-natal care in Somalia, drove a truck with medical supplies in Bosnia and set up a hospital in Chechnya. She worked for as long as possible. It was what she loved," Mr Dodds said.
Miss Dodds was promoted within the Red Cross to brief and debrief nurses. She returned to England when her condition deteriorated.
"She was able to die at home, surrounded by people who did everything to make her comfortable and were her friends," Mr Dodds said.
Miss Dodds' mother, Wyn Dodds, who lives in Saffron Walden, said her daughter had been very brave and fought her illness to the end.
"There have been so many people singing her praises, she would go into areas where none of them wanted to venture. I did worry about her.
"It has been wonderful the way her friends looked after her," Mrs Dodds said.
Professor Roy Calne, who worked with Miss Dodds in the intensive care department at Addenbrooke's Hospital, said: "I had enormous respect for her. I painted her portrait to get the feeling of devotion and care of an intensive care nurse. I admired her very much."
Her funeral took place on Monday.
Pauline Dodds, 47, died peacefully at her home in Trumpington. She was recently awarded an MBE for her part in aid missions at trouble spots around the world.
Miss Dodds was cared for around the clock by a team of her nurses and friends some from Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, others Red Cross nurses she had met in places such as Bosnia and Chechnya.
Miss Dodds, who grew up at Kedington, near Haverhill, was made an MBE in the New Year's Honours List for her services to the Red Cross.
She worked as a sister in intensive care at Addenbrooke's Hospital before taking her skills to some of the world's most dangerous places, including the Gaza Strip, Afghanistan, Somalia and East Timor.
Sir Nicholas Young, chief executive of the British Red Cross, paid tribute to Miss Dodds' 10-year career with the organisation.
"She received the MBE shortly before she died and told us how pleased she was that the work of Red Cross nurses had been recognised in this way," he said.
"Pauline leaves many friends throughout the Red Cross."
Miss Dodds' brother Ken, who lives in America, said she was recognised within the Red Cross as someone who would take on their most dangerous missions.
She was once held hostage at gunpoint for 24 hours in Somalia and was often accompanied by a bodyguard and armed escorts.
"She was a very tough lady. She set up pre-natal care in Somalia, drove a truck with medical supplies in Bosnia and set up a hospital in Chechnya. She worked for as long as possible. It was what she loved," Mr Dodds said.
Miss Dodds was promoted within the Red Cross to brief and debrief nurses. She returned to England when her condition deteriorated.
"She was able to die at home, surrounded by people who did everything to make her comfortable and were her friends," Mr Dodds said.
Miss Dodds' mother, Wyn Dodds, who lives in Saffron Walden, said her daughter had been very brave and fought her illness to the end.
"There have been so many people singing her praises, she would go into areas where none of them wanted to venture. I did worry about her.
"It has been wonderful the way her friends looked after her," Mrs Dodds said.
Professor Roy Calne, who worked with Miss Dodds in the intensive care department at Addenbrooke's Hospital, said: "I had enormous respect for her. I painted her portrait to get the feeling of devotion and care of an intensive care nurse. I admired her very much."
Her funeral took place on Monday.
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