NURSE Joanna Whittaker has been put forward for an Our Heroes award by a former Government minister.
She was nominated by ex-health minister Edwina Currie after the 41-year-old who works at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire sprang to her rescue in Liverpool.
The Tory politician had slipped on some steps in the city centre and fractured her ankle.
But Joanna interrupted her shopping trip to stabilise the limb and stayed with her for 20 minutes until paramedics arrived.
But during the emergency she also made sure her celebrity patient was shielded from strangers' prying eyes and passers-by who wanted to shake her hand.
Now four months later and with the ankle healed following two days in hospital, Edwina feels Joanna's actions make her the perfect candidate for the award which seeks to recognise health workers prepared to go the extra mile.
She said: "She could have simply walked past when I fell but instead she stopped and automatically came to the help of a stranger in trouble.
"She was kind but firm and taking control of the situation, she gave be so much reassurance. I am so grateful for what she did."
Although both bones the former MP broke have now mended, she still has some difficulties walking and describes her ankle as being like a barometer as it becomes painful in damp weather.
Mother-of-three Joanna from Sandbach has had plenty of experience nursing fractures as she has spent most of her six years at the Hartshill complex working in its A&E department.
She said: "I did know who it was, but you don't say, 'you're Edwina Currie, what have you done?'
"I'm a nurse and there was a lady in pain. I did what I was trained to do. She had a double fracture, so she was in a lot of pain.
"I kept her foot still, kept her calm by talking to her and I kept bystanders away until the ambulance arrived.
"It's irrelevant who it was, it was just a lady who had fallen and was in pain."
Joanna, who has been a nurse for 20 years, admits she has taken some ribbing from friends after treating Edwina.
She now works at the University of North Staffordshire Hospital's outpatients department, treating people suffering from infectious diseases in their own homes.
She said: "I love it. Patient satisfaction is fantastic.
"We are providing a service, working with infectious diseases. If you had an infection that requires antibiotics, but are well enough to be treated at home, we will come out and see you.
"We are saving hospital beds. Patient satisfaction is at 98 per cent, patients prefer to be treated at home, it is better for them, their families and the local economy. It's a fantastic service.
"We have treated over 400 patients in two years but it's not a matter of numbers. It's how many days we have saved in hospital. Typically, these patients would have had to stay in hospital for six weeks.
"The service has been going for two years and it was going to finish. We were on temporary contracts, but now we are on permanent ones and the service is going to remain."
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