A GRATEFUL granddaughter has thanked a leading NHS nurse who went “above and beyond” to help fix a vital oxygen machine for a nan suffering with motor neurone disease.

Lucy O’Brien, 18, has thanked Southend Hospital’s lead respiratory nurse, Lisa Ward, for her off-duty work after her nan’s breathing equipment stopped working.

Bridget Knight, who has lived in Southend for 20 years, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in June and relies on an oxygen machine at home to help her breathe.

Lucy said: “On Thursday, nan’s breathing machine had just stopped working. We had palliative care nurses out trying to fix the machine. We were calling hospices and the respiratory ward and no-one knew how to work the machine.

After about two hours of trying to get it to work, nan was getting in such a state of worry because she needs this.

“The palliative care nurse had given my number to the respiratory ward to have a call back.

“I had a call from Lisa Ward and straight away she asked to Facetime me to talk through step by step how to sort out the machine.

“She was at home sat on the sofa and was on the phone to us for 30-40 minutes.”

By the end of the call, the machine still wasn’t working so Lisa arranged for two new machines to be set up and ready for the family to collect from the hospital’s respiratory ward that evening.

Lucy added: “She just went above and beyond. She was still in contact with us asking us to let her know how nan was – like genuinely concerned.”

Lucy’s nan was admitted to hospital on Sunday as the machine was still not working as well as it should have been.

“Lisa continued to check in with the family.

Lucy said: “If anything it’s made me even more in awe of the NHS. To have someone who really does just go above and beyond for a family she doesn’t even know when she’s not even at work is just amazing.

“She’s literally the lead nurse for ventilators yet she’s taking her time from being at home in the evening, relaxing, to actually help another person.

“I just want to say thank you to her. It’s a comfort and reassurance that when a loved one is in hospital you’ve got people like her.”