Ahmedabad: ‘Sister Jeniben’ to echo no more in VS Hospital corridors

AHMEDABAD: “Sister Jeniben”. The VS Hospital’s corridors will now miss the echo of this familiar name usually called out when in need of help at various wards by patients and colleagues. At 48, Jennifer Christian was the first staff nurse to have fallen prey to Covid-19 at VS hospital.
A few sisters were present at VS Hospital while her body was being wrapped and later taken to Ghanti tekra in Khodiyarnagar for burial. She was slated to become in-charge in a few months, her colleagues recall.
It was only recently that she was transferred to Covid-19 care facility at SVP Hospital where she was looking after critically ill patients. Constantly on her feet, her colleagues remember her dedicatedly serving patients.
She was jovial. She would make patients smile and sometimes be strict with them if they were not careful. Her brother Bishop Silvance Christian, who heads the Gujarat diocese for CNI, said, “Our mother was a staff nurse at the Odhav Beggar’s home facility. Jennifer was the second in our family who served for 20 years and now her daughter is in her final year of nursing. Her elder son will become a priest shortly.”
Bishop Silvance added, “In her final 11 days she kept saying she would come back to serve her colleagues at the hospital who looked after her well.”
Jennifer will be missed by many in Behrampura. Bishop Silvance said, “She was quite well known among various communities in her area.”
Senior BJP leader and councillor Mayur Dave said in her remembrance: “I had known her for 20 years. Whenever I went on rounds at VS Hospital, Sister Jennifer was our single point person. During disasters or major accidents she led from the front when it came to patient’s care.”