A WARTIME nurse who worked under the threat of air raids in hospital wards with scant equipment has been an inspiration for staff at her Sandiway nursing home during the pandemic.

Centenarian Grace Emery kept a smile on her face throughout the coronavirus lockdown, lighting up the lives of staff and residents at Redwalls Nursing Home, on Weaverham Road.

And her ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ spirit ensured the 100-year-old was never going to miss the birth of her 14th great-grandchild Xander Zane Jordan as she turned to modern technology to welcome the youngster into the world.

Just hours after his delivery at around 7pm last Tuesday, October 20, Grace met the latest member of her family, whose middle name Zane means Grace, via FaceTime.

Home manager TJ Adamson said: “The coronavirus pandemic has been a very tough time for residents unable to see their loved ones for long periods of time.

“Grace has been an inspiration to staff and other residents with her firm conviction that ‘happiness happens but joy abides’.”

Grace, the eldest of eight children, was born on April 4, 1920, and celebrated her 100th birthday during the lockdown. Staff at her nursing home used three phones so she could connect with eight members of her family via FaceTime on her big day.

After growing up in Warwickshire, Grace attended boarding school in Weston-super-mare at the age of 10. From there, she entered nursing school in Birmingham and was one of the first intakes in the then-new Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

All her nursing training, both general and midwifery, took place during wartime. She lived and worked with constant air raids, boarded up windows in the wards where there was a lack of rubber gloves and needles. In theatres, gloves were often not used for operations due to the shortages.

Grace married Bill in 1948 and gave birth to twins Pauline and Graham in 1950. Her youngest John was born four years later. Following Bill’s death in 2001, Grace moved up to Cheshire to be near Pauline and John, and lived with her daughter in Kingswood, near Frodsham.