East Preston’s Ethel overjoyed with 101st birthday surprise

Ethel Argent celebrated her birthday last month with staff at the hospital when she popped into the eye clinic for a preliminary assessment of her planned cataract operation, later this month.

Ophthalmic appointment booking team members Jan Barr, Ester Fitzgerald, Liz Fry, Kate Humphrey and manager John Duggan had clubbed together to present her with a bouquet of flowers, a bottle of sparkling wine and a cake to mark the occasion.

Ethel was driven to the clinic by one of her two sons, Roger – but often catches the bus to attend hospital appointments since giving up driving at the age of 95.

She lived in Singapore with her husband throughout much of the 1940s and ’50s before retiring to East Preston in 1961.