Mercy Ships

Linda Butler trained as a nurse at Charing Cross Hospital, London and became a surgical ward sister there in the 1970s. After a career break when her three daughters were young she returned to work at the Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry where her husband Robin was a consultant rheumatologist. She specialised in recovery nursing in the operating theatre unit where she became nurse manager.

She had Joined Rotary and heard about Mercy Ships when a speaker visited the club and gave a presentation. Since young adult life she had had a desire to do some nursing in Africa but family commitments had taken precedence. By then her daughters had left home and she decided to investigate further and went on a Mercy Ships introductory trip to Holland. She negotiated a period of unpaid leave from the hospital and spent two months working for Mercy Ships in Benin in 2009 and later a month in Sierra Leone in 2011. After her return she gave a number of presentations about her experiences on the ship which resulted in donations to further the work of Mercy Ships.

She was impressed by the dedication and professionalism of the staff on the ship and the supporting imaging and pathology services. She was surprised by the number of people who had walked for days to have the opportunity of surgery and the efficiency of the triaging system. She was shocked at how relatively straightforward problems like hernias and benign soft tissue tumours could result in marked disability and deformities when left untreated. She saw the successful results of eye, orthopaedic, complex head and neck surgery and that for maternal complications of childbirth. She was glad that she had had the opportunity to play a role in vastly improving the health and quality of life of people who would have had no chance of surgery in those countries without Mercy Ships. As she wrote when she left Benin: "I felt I have successfully played a small part within this amazing organisation".

Linda Butler passed away unexpectedly in June 2016. She was a committed Rotarian who epitomised the Rotary ideal of “Service Above Self”. Her fellow Rotarians in Borderland Rotary wanted to commemorate Linda and set about raising money to provide funding to annually assist one or more local volunteers to join mercy ships for a tour of duty. The Linda Butler Mercy Ship Bursary will be awarded to a medical or non -medical volunteer who is prepared to devote a minimum of one month on one of the Mercy Ships.

It is not intended that the Bursary should provide all of the volunteer's travel or living expenses. Rather that it will assist them in becoming a volunteer and allow people who would like to help Mercy Ships, but may not have the financial resources, to do so. Borderland Rotary currently support people serving on board and intends to continue raising funds each year to support Mercy Ships.

Hospital leadership team - 2023

~ ~~~oooo~~~ ~