A TEENAGER who was inspired to become a nurse by child leukeamia survivor Georgie Webster is backing The Hunts Post’s Christmas appeal for Hinchingbrooke Hospital’s children’s ward.

Charlotte Nunn of Cambridge Gardens, St Neots, was just 12 years old when she was admitted to Holly Ward, part of Cambridgeshire Community Services, with abdominal pains.

A twist of fate saw her placed in a bed opposite Georgie Webster, then just four years old and battling leukaemia.

After an initial shyness the pair became friends, and Georgie’s brave battle against the disease led Charlotte to take up nursing. The 19-year-old is currently on a training placement at Holly Ward while studying at university in Cambridge.

She said: “It just happened that the bed I was put in was opposite Georgie. The first day we did not talk much, but then we started talking across the ward to each other. I got to know her. We played games and I read stories to her.

“I remember being affected by what I saw. The nurses were amazing with Georgie and her mum, Tracy, who is a single mum. They helped her, her mum and her brother.

“As I got to know her more, I used to babysit Georgie and look after her. I used to go round there for tea. I saw the nurses come round to see her.”

Georgie was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was two-and-a-half years old after a routine blood test identified an abnormality with her blood count. It took three and a half years of treatment before she was finally given the all-clear.

Now fighting fit, the 11-year-old visited patients at Holly Ward on Saturday with cartoon character friends Igle Piggle and Oopsy Daisey ahead of a fundraising drive for Clic Sargent outside Tesco in St Neots the following day.

Charlotte said: “Georgie is the reason I went into nursing. All the way she and Tracy have been really proud. It is strange being on this side of things after being a patient here. But it is fulfilling. Now I can understand the other side of the story.”

INFORMATION: To contribute to The Hunts Post’s Holly’s Little Helpers appeal all you have to do is wrap a gift and drop it into The Hunts Post office at 30 High Street, Huntingdon, before December 17. Gifts should have a note explaining what is inside.