Doris (83) arrived in the UK in 1960 as a young qualified nurse from British Guiana, now Guyana. She went straight to work in a mental hospital in Surrey. “They needed nurses,” she said.
While working at the hospital she contracted TB, a disease which has had long term health effects. As a result of the illness Doris was unable to work as a nurse again. She was awarded just #20 a week in compensation and has had to go to court twice to get this increased.
Another effect of the TB has been that Doris has been unable to have any children. On the couple of occasions she has visited the foodbank, she has seemed cheerful and stoical. But the tears flowed freely when she told me she lost her first baby at the Royal Free hospital just before Easter.
“I always feel it at this time of year,” she said. “TB has destroyed my whole life.”
Doris now lives in Finchley. Her husband had come here from Sierra Leone and trained as a lawyer. Having returned to Sierra Leone, he died five years ago. Doris visited Sierra Leone in 2016 but had to stay longer than she’d intended as she contracted malaria.
When she returned 18 months later, her benefits were stopped and Barnet Council tried to evict her. Luckily she won her appeal.