IndexNurse wins lifetime achievement awardActs of kindnessThe discovery of sickle cell anemiaConclusion 72-year-old Elizabeth Anionwu has published a bestselling biography, been made a Dame by the Queen and has won four honorary degrees for his incredible nursing work. British nurse wins lifetime achievement award at Pride of Britain. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay A nurse wins lifetime achievement award Elizabeth has dedicated her life to changing the lives of thousands of people in the Black community who suffer from sickle cell anemia, all while facing racism as a mixed-race woman. She became Britain's first expert on sickle cell anemia and thalassemia in 1979 and in 2016 co-led a campaign for a statue of black nurse Mary Seacole - the Jamaican woman who nursed British troops on the battlefront in the Crimean War - at St Thomas' Hospital. This year, Dame Elizabeth will receive the Pride Of Britain Lifetime Achievement Award for her great devotion to nursing. “It's still pretty hard to believe. I was sitting in my living room when I got the phone call and cried a little – I was overwhelmed,” she says. At the prestigious ceremony, held at Grosvenor House in London, Dame Elizabeth will join Carol Vorderman and take to the stage to receive the award from a well-known face. “I always like a bit of suspense – I bring along a group of family and friends who are over the moon, including my daughter Azuka Oforka and my 11-year-old granddaughter, who is bringing her autograph book.” Family plays a vital role in Dame Elizabeth's life, but, born of marriage to an Irish woman and a Nigerian man, her childhood was marred by racism, torture and abuse. Soon after her birth, in 1947, she was sent to a Catholic orphanage run by nuns who, at times, were very cruel indeed. “When I wet the bed I had to stand on a chair and hold the wet sheet over my head,” she said. Dame Elizabeth spent the first nine years of her life in care and her mother visited her when she could. He often spent many weeks without communicating, but between jobs Dame Elizabeth and her friends had activities such as Irish dancing and playing the piano to keep them occupied. Acts of Kindness At the young age of four, little Dame Elizabeth met a kind nun who would encourage her nursing career. “I had severe, itchy eczema, which the nuns treated with coal tar paste and covered with bandages,” she reveals. I was happy to meet the kind nun - she would say words like "bottom", I would burst out giggling, and she would kindly remove my blindfold - I never felt a thing. Later, I realized it was something called a nurse and concluded that was what I was meant to be.' At the age of nine, Dame Elizabeth was brought home by her mother, who had married an Englishman. Unfortunately, her stepfather was ridiculed by his peers because of his daughter's skin color. He became rude to her and once again Dame Elizabeth was sent away. At 16 she became an assistant school nurse and at 18 she began her practice in London, where she gradually began to gain some courage and met some life partners. The discovery of sickle cell anemia In the early 1970s, Dame Elizabeth became a healthcare assistant in London and was first confronted with sickle cell anemia – a painful condition common in African and Caribbean populations – which at the time was often ignored. "I had never been informed and I felt incapable in front of these people",.