The Lady of the Lamp
Florence Nightingale was born at Florence in Italy to rich parents. She was named after the city where she was born. A serious girl from her early childhood, she was not interested in fun and frolic but preferred to attend the sick and ailing persons in the villages. As she grew older, she wanted to be a nurse.
She says, the sisters of Mercy as they were called gave themselves entirely to the work of being trained to help the suffering. So, she went to Paris to be trained as a nurse. After her training she was given charge of a hospital for women in London. She gained valuable knowledge and experience by working hard.
In 1854, England, France and Turkey fought against Russia in Crimea. In that war, known as the Crimean war, wounded soldiers were neglected in bad weather and kept in over-crowded places and fed improperly.
The largest hospital was in Turkey but even that was Very small for the number of wounded soldiers. British people were very much agitated when they learnt about the bad conditions and they wanted to send a team of trained nurses to take care of the brave men wounded and suffering.
Florence Nightingale led the mission with thirty-eight nurses. Arrangements for medicine, bandages, food and bedding for the wounded were made. She was the first English Woman to undertake such a mission. She found the men suffering terribly not only frond their wounds and rough handling but from disease, dirt and neglect. Without proper sleep and rest, she worked hard for two weeks. All day long she was busy dressing wounds helping at operation, feeding and soothing sick men, giving out stores and arranging everything down to the last detail.
The wounded saw her passing in the night with a lamp in hand attending to the wounded men. So, she was known as “The lady, of the lamp”. The soldiers even kissed her shadow as it fell across their pillows.
The hospitals became cleaner, more army and better drained and cooking was improved. Later she visited other hospitals near the battle field. Her work affected her and she became seriously ill. But she refused- to go home till the war was over.
When she came to England there was a grand reception waiting for her. But she went quietly to her home People in Britain collected a large sum of money to enable her to set up a training school for nurses.
It was only due to her effort, the Red Cross Society was formed in 1864. She lived for ninety years and received he Order of Merit from the king of England.
The letters on her name can be made to spell the words, “Flit or Cheering Angel”.
