Helen’ s story
Cornerstone No. 187, page 4
Helen was born in 1959 and brought up in Lancaster. Her father was a school teacher, her mother a nurse. She had a younger brother, John. According to her brother John, Helen was a very caring person from an early age. Reading bedtime stories, performing magic tricks and giving him lots of hugs to keep the night terrors at bay. He also said she was very bright at school, loved music and classical literature and could often be found with her head in a book. She was a fantastic daughter to their parents and a wonderful sister.
On leaving school, she had the grades and the qualifications to join St. Andrew’ s University, where she made many friends, enjoyed her studies and her university life. She graduated in modern and medieval history with a 2:1 Honours Degree. While there, she also enjoyed the outdoor life, walking on the seashore, cycling and gained a fondness of Scottish Country Dancing. Once again, Helen’ s caring trait shone through – becoming a member of the Student Voluntary Service and a regular visitor to the patients in a local hospital.
In 1980, before completing her degree, through the friend of a friend she met Ian. The relationship thrived and they got married in 1981. Once graduated Helen, following in her mother’ s footsteps, was strongly drawn to nursing and she started as a student nurse in Edinburgh.
Helen was always very loyal and supportive of Ian, in his training and in his ministry, and after 5 years in Edinburgh, Ian received a Call to Orkney which must have seemed like a different planet to a lass from Lancaster! A year after their arrival in Orkney Helen became a mum for the first time when Sarah arrived followed by two more Orkney babies, Michael in 1987, Matthew in 1989. After 8 years, they moved to Bannockburn, where in 1994 Colin was born.
In 1996 came the move to Kirkcaldy, where Ian took up the post of hospital chaplain and Helen busied herself with the children – she loved reading them stories, even when they could read themselves. As Colin grew to school age, Helen returned to nursing. Helen was a highly respected member of staff and much loved by patients and their families. She was attentive, thoughtful and caring, and treated people with such tenderness and concern, she was ideal in the role. She was not somebody who got in a flap or who reacted adversely to stress or problems. Helen seemed to float through issues and situations that caused others stress and she had the patience of a saint.