BOPDHB History Tauranga Hospital Centennial Book | Page 33

Longest-stay Permanent Patient in
New Zealand

“When he was six years old his grandfather had enrolled
him and his birthday was in fact 20 August 1918. ‘I’ve been
reading Scorpio (horoscope) to you all these years and
you’re a Leo!’ A local lawyer applied for his birth certificate
and that became one of his prized treasures.
“I used to take him to the movies and he liked action and
cowboy movies. He used to get so excited he’d shake.
If he had had a normal life he would be an accountant he
told me once. He’d lie there and count cars and trucks
going past his window within ten minutes and how many in
an hour. He was a lovely man,” says Stella.
James Lynch died peacefully at Tauranga Hospital in
May 2001.

Did You Know?
During the 20th Century:
• Human life expectancy doubled
• Human population quadrupled
• Global food yield increased six fold
Stella Ward, retired Registered Nurse, with James Lynch.

• Water consumption increased six fold

James Lynch was admitted to Tauranga Hospital in 1957
where he stayed in bed paralysed in Tauranga Hospital
for over 40 years. James inspired many with his sense
of humour, his strong Catholic faith, positive attitude and
sharp mind. He was paralysed aged 14. When visiting onboard the HMS Veronica he went to help a sailor he came
across in the Gun Room who was holding a live wire.
The current passed through James, paralysing him and
over the following years his body slowly deteriorated.
Registered Nurse, Stella Ward, (now retired), was one of
many staff members who looked after James during his
time at the hospital.

A class of student nurses watch an operation in the early 1950’s.

“One day when I was washing him he surprised me when
he said out of the blue, ‘I’ve had such a good life’.
I was stunned for a minute. ‘Do you think so James, with
all that’s happened?’ I asked him. ‘Well I’ve never had any
pain and I’ve never been bored. I’ve had such a good life,’
he replied.
“He used to celebrate his birthday in November and one
day he’d been thinking and said, ‘I’m sure my mother didn’t
die in the 1918 Influenza Epidemic but in 1919’, and he
wanted to get a copy of his birth certificate. So we got in
touch with the local Registry Office but couldn’t find any
record of his birth and that really upset him. We were told
that some people weren’t registered at birth but when they
went to school so we applied to his old school, Tauranga
District School, and we found his entry in the archives,”
says Stella.

Operating theatre in early 1950’s.

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