A&E nurse at Stoke Mandeville Hospital wins national poetry competition

A senior nurse working in the A&E Department at Stoke Mandeville Hospital has won a national poetry competition.

Debbie Lawson, pictured above, received 49% of the online vote with her poem entitled ‘One for the team’. The poem was one of five shortlisted poems selected from over 5,000 entries in the national ‘A poem to remember’ poetry competition to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

The poem is based on a true story from someone she knew but it contains a collection of stories that Debbie has heard over time.

Debbie said: ‘I feel very humbled but honoured to be able to tell the story.‘

Debbie and her family will visit the new Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC) at Stanford Hall near Loughborough, Leicestershire on Thursday 21st June 2018 where her poem will be read to an audience by Prince William.

Debbie’s poem can be read on the Poem To Remember website.