A SURPRISE appearance by a woman who flew from the United Kingdom to attend was a highlight of a weekend reunion of 1964 trainee nurses at Warrnambool Base Hospital.
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Patricia Warburton flew in especially for the reunion attended by about 25 nurses who trained together at Warrnambool into the late 1960s.
One of the reunion organisers, Marion Trigg, of Warrnambool, said another woman, Margaret Karp (nee Hurley), came from the United States, linking the get-together with a family event.
She said the reunion was “wonderful” and gave many of the nurses the opportunity to rekindle friendships after many decades.
Some of the returnees had not seen each other for about 40 years, Mrs Trigg said.
The women enjoyed a tour of the hospital on Saturday afternoon and were delighted to find the nurses’ honour board from their training years had been retrieved from storage for their viewing.
They also enjoyed a night of nostalgia at a dinner on Saturday at the Lady Bay Resort and at a barbecue on Sunday.
Many of the 1964 intake went on to accomplished nursing careers both in Australia and overseas.
Mrs Trigg said a few were still working in nursing.
She said the women enjoyed a quiz that tested their memories on the names of the senior nurses and matrons they worked under, as well as what had happened to some of the patients they had looked after.