The second day of Fiona's life (we were not supposed to shorten her name!) and this 13 year old sister was probably her first visitor. Dad was on the high seas on his way back from Australia. Fi was a chubby baby with a shock of dark hair. After a short while Mother began to notice that something was not right. A number of hospitals dismissed her as an "anxious mother" despite Fi's increasing struggles, particularly in the winter. She caught whooping cough and started going blue, whereupon our GP called in Dr Sam Weller at Sydenham Children's Hospital. She was put in an oxygen tent whilst they tried to work out what was wrong. She caught measles and was transferred to an isolation hospital and then got double pneumonia, but through this they came to a diagnosis - the little known cystic fibrosis. How they persuaded this strong willed 5 year old to eat the foul smelling granules so that her food was digested I never new - she must have understood they were vital to her survival. So began the years of treatment, hospital admissions, double lung transplant, periods of good health, marriage, family life, work and living her dream on Epiphany wandering the canals and satisfying her wanderlust.
What a life! What courage! Rest in peace, sister mine.