I WAS very surprised to read the letter from Joyce Rutter (HAS, Apr 21) and pleased to know that nurse Joan Emmerson of Esh Winning is still remembered.
Joan trained as a nurse and a midwife and left a secure position in England to work for Save the Children in Africa.
As I remember it, she was travelling in a Land Rover when it was fired on by rebels. A bullet hit an oxygen cylinder which exploded, totally blinding Joan.
As Mrs Rutter says, Joan managed her great disability admirably, with the aid of guide dogs. On one occasion I was passing her bungalow and saw her on steps cleaning her windows. Windows through which she could not see.
On another occasion I saw her exercising her dog when nature called, however Joan had even found a hygienic way round that problem, putting irresponsible dog owners to shame.
Joan liked to walk in the countryside. On one occasion I saw her on a walkway with her dog when someone was firing an air gun, not at her but in her direction. This must have been unnerving given the circumstances of her injury, but she carried on undaunted.
Joan was a remarkable woman, a candidate for Sainthood if ever there was one.
Alan Gordon, Esh Winning.
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