Leaving early

Press, 31 October 1981, Page 2

Leaving early

. The decision to take an early retirement was a particularly difficult one for the popular administration officer at Coronation Hospital, Miss Gloria Gavan, above.

Miss Gavan, who has been confined to a wheelchair since having both legs amputated because of circulatory problems in 1963, will retire from the North Canterbury Hospital Board on November 12. She has worked for the board since 1949; initially at the chest clinic in Armagh Street; and at Coronation Hospital for the last 18 years.

Taking an early ment (she is aged 58) was a big decision because she loves the job, one in which she has made many friends. She said she will miss the company, and the feeling of being treated as a normal person rather than as someone with a disability.

She praised the board for keeping her a job when she lost her legs. It had meant a lot to her psychologically. Among the more memorable moments of her career was the time when, after she had been working at Coronation for a year, the staff secretly raised money to buy her an electric wheelchair. She has used it ever since. Miss Gavan, who drives a car and has a built-up garden to look after, has some definite plans for her retirement. She wants to stay busy, would like to take up painting, and possibly become a driver for meals on wheels. She wants to help voluntarily with occupational therapy, such as reading to patients, and has some “great ideas” for making her garden pretty.

"I want to do what I can as long as I can. I don’t want to just lie down and finish.”