Nurse walked nine miles through snow two days in a row to save dialysis patient

Nurse walked nine miles through snow two days in a row to save kidney dialysis patient

By Rebecca Camber
Last updated at 6:49 PM on 13th February 2009

Outside, a blizzard was blowing and the snow was 14 inches deep.

But while many of us took a sick day as the heaviest snowfall in 18 years brought the nation to a standstill, nurse Debbie Noble dug out her walking boots, trudging nine miles through the snow to save the life of a patient.

In treacherous conditions with temperatures plunging to -2c, the 49-year-old made the four-hour round trip to help her patient, Steph Crawford who could have died without dialysis treatment.

Mrs Crawford, 45, from Ewell, who suffers from kidney failure, was trapped in her home as she was unable to drive to her usual dialysis centre in Kingston due to the heavy snow and ambulances could not reach her as roads were blocked.

Without treatment, Mrs Crawford would have struggled to breathe as fluid builds up around her lungs which can ultimately prove fatal.

But when she called renal nurse Mrs Noble in desperation, the nurse who was on a day off immediately set out from her home in Ashtead, Surrey four and a half miles away - even braving the perishing temperatures the next day to help Mrs Crawford with her treatment.

Mrs Noble had previously been helping Mrs Crawford to set up a dialysis machine in her own home, but the machinery was not yet ready to be used.

Mrs Crawford said: 'I got up at my normal time to go to dialysis, but when I stepped out of the door, the snow was up to my knees.

'I tried to drive, but at the end of my road I got completely stuck.

'I really began panicking then - I couldn't get to hospital and didn't think an ambulance would be able to get to me.

'I thought I would need an air ambulance.

'I tried to work the machine myself but it wouldn't.

'When I spoke to Debbie on the phone she told me not to panic and said she was on her way over.

'When I told her it would be impossible because of the icy weather, she simply said "No, I'm walking."

The mother-of-two added: 'What she did was amazing.

'She says it is just her job but not many people would have got hiking boots and waterproof trousers on and gone out in 14 inches of snow.'

When Mrs Noble arrived, she rang technicians at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, where she is based, who helped her to get the machine running.

Mrs Crawford added: 'After she got the machine working she then walked all the way home - and then did it all again the next day.

'The fact is without dialysis I would have died.

'I need dialysis at least three times a week, and by the second day, I would have been in real trouble.

'There aren't enough words to say how thankful I am to her. She is literally a life saver.'

On Monday February 2 when Mrs Noble made the journey hospitals, schools and tens of thousands of businesses shut as transport networks were paralysed with more than a foot of snow in many places.

Operations were cancelled and ambulance provision was restricted to 'life-threatening' calls only as the NHS struggled to cope with the Arctic blast.

But Mrs Noble was not fazed by the cold snap.

She said: 'I was pretty tired after all that walking, but the outcome was very successful.

'It was definitely worth it. I am used to walking, but I have to say that walking in the snow and ice is much harder than normal - I’m still wearing blister plasters.

'Everyone at the trust worked hard over those two days.

'Lots of people went above and beyond to take care of the people who needed it. Everyone's been mucking in.

'At work you sometimes get a 'yes' moment when something works.

'Walking home in the snow with the moon shining was one of those moments that you store up for a rainy day.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1144565/Nurse-walked-miles-snow-days-row-save-kidney-dialysis-patient.html

PHOTO: Nurse Debbie Noble, right, walked to treat kidney patient Steph Crawford