Utmost Admiration for an Amputee

Heroes Remember

Utmost Admiration for an Amputee

Transcript

There’d be forty-eight beds in the ward and twenty-four on one side and twenty four on the other, of a... of a partition and we called them the old timers that had been there for more than a month and they would relate to the new ones coming in and they’d give them a little note on their table and say, “anytime of the day and night that you need help call out this number and I’ll be there.” And that was the most amazing thing to me because you could hear the numbers being called out during the night whether they just needed to talk or somebody to hold their hand, but it was such comradeship between... these fellows that were there. It’s something I’ve never forgotten, no. Nothing but the outmost admiration for an amputee. They had more strength than we had. They were amazing. They accepted everything that was offered to them in the way of treatments and some of them were pathetically ill and far from home because there were no spaces left in Toronto or Vancouver hospitals and it was just a constant turn over of, of amputees and they were all amputees in that ward.

Description

Mrs. MacDairmid expresses the deep appreciation she had for the amputee patients requiring her care and comradeship shared amongst the men.

Rea MacDairmid

Mrs. Rea MacDairmid was born in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan on April 29, 1922. Her father served in WWI and brother in WWII. After graduating from high school in Saskatchewan, Rea went to Regina to enlist in the Air Force. In June 1942 she received her first posting and was stationed in Paulsen, Manitoba. Within her In-Canada service she was posted to Davidson, Saskatchewan, and Lethbridge, Alberta, later transferring to Winnipeg where she became a Hospital Assistant at Deer Lodge Hospital. This was Rea’s longest posting of 2 ½ years. In October 1945, she decided to get married and, therefore, discharged from the Air Force. Mrs. MacDairmid chose not to work while raising her family. Her love for service time in the Air Force will never be forgotten.

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