Cicely Saunders

Cicely Mary Strode Saunders was born on 22 June 1918 in Barnet, Hertfordshire. During the Second World War she trained as a nurse at St Thomas's Hospital, but a back injury led her to become a hospital almoner (medical social worker). Around 1945 she underwent a Christian conversion, and her faith shaped the rest of her life's work. In 1948 she cared for David Tasma, a Polish Jewish refugee dying of cancer, who left her £500 to be 'a window in your home'. Convinced that the dying were neglected, she qualified as a doctor in 1957 and researched pain control at St Joseph's Hospice in Hackney. She taught that the dying suffer 'total pain', physical, emotional, social and spiritual, and that regular doses of pain relief should be given before pain returned. In 1967 she opened St Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham, south London, founded as a Christian community open to all, which combined care, teaching and research. It inspired hospices worldwide. She was made a Dame in 1979 and received the Order of Merit in 1989. She died at St Christopher's on 14 July 2005.

Faith: A committed Christian whose faith shaped her work founding the modern hospice movement. Source: Wikipedia

See also: Florence Nightingale · John of God · Viktor Frankl