A humble nurse who has helped hundreds of people across Fermanagh has been shortlisted for the Community Champion of the Year award at The Impartial Reporter Community Champion awards, in association with Encirc.

Christine Duffy, who lives in Monea and is married to Pat, has two children who followed her into healthcare: Aaron, a pharmacist, and Tara, a psychologist.

Mrs. Duffy has worked tirelessly to help people from across Fermanagh for almost five decades.

An anonymous nomination form described her as “a unique soul, who has passed through the life of many for a few minutes but has had an impact for an eternity".

It continued: "She is a nurse who always gives hope. In essence, she is an angel with a stethoscope.”

Reacting to her nomination, Mrs. Duffy said: "Although it's a major shock, it is an honour. To care for people is a privilege."

She humbly added: "That’s my job, it's what I do. I don’t do anything else."

Mrs. Duffy detailed some of her career, but was very modest about the work she does to help people.

“I am a mum of two, I have a husband and I have worked in the NHS for nearly five decades now - 47 years.

“I started training in 1977 in Belfast in the middle of The Troubles, and moved to Enniskillen in 1980.

“I worked in cardiology all my life, 35-plus years. I moved from the Erne Hospital to the South West Acute Hospital, and worked there in cardiology and retired in 2017.

“I then joined the vaccination team during the Covid-19 pandemic. I am still doing that, and I work in GP out-of-hours.”

She wished to use her interview to highlight that "everyone should learn CPR skills" as "knowledge is life-saving".

Mrs. Duffy played down her role, but those who nominated her recognised her as an extraordinary person.

In their nomination form, they said: “Sometimes, the extraordinary people among us are also the most ordinary people who go above and beyond to help, support, and encourage those within our society, and remain under the radar.

“As a nurse, Christine has aimed to heal the mind, soul, heart, and body of her patients, none of whom have forgotten how she has made them feel.

"To this day, anyone in Christine's company will not be able to walk the length of Enniskillen main street without bumping into a former patient, to whom they owe their life to Christine.”

Describing why she returned to nursing after her retirement, she summed her reasons up by saying: “ Nurses aren’t programmed to do nothing! Whatever chip is in us means we have to sort of try to continue trying to help where we can.”

 

Others nominated for the Community Champion of the Year, sponsored by Encirc award include Jenna Robinson, Michelle Rooney, Natasha Dane, Shelley Cowan and Siobhan O’Brien.