By Charmel Bowman via The Sunday Tribune.

Stella Thackeray is a worthy Lead SA hero of the month.  As the Highway Hospice faces closure from a lack of funds, she continues to do her calling of caring for the dying.

Thackeray describes the 30 years spent caring for dying patients at the Highway Hospice as a dream job. The 68-year-old nurse has spent almost half of her life caring for the dying and vows to continue doing so until she herself dies — or if the hospice closes over a lack of funds. An unsung hero for the work she does, Thackeray said she has cared for the rich and famous, beggars, poor men and even criminals and prides herself in treating all of them with equal dignity and respect and helping them to be at peace with their impending death and living positively until that happens. Speaking to the Sunday Tribune this week, Thackeray said she joined the hospice almost 30 years ago “quite by accident”. She married a South African and emigrated to South Africa from Scotland, practising nursing at a large doctors’ practice. While she enjoyed her job, she found having to work in a racially segregated society difficult to deal with – until she heard about the non-racial hospice.

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