SEVEN YEARS A PATIENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 September 1922, Page 5

SEVEN YEARS A PATIENT.

DEATH OF HEROIC BOY. “THE SOUL OF PLUCK.” The death at the Auckland Hospital the other day of James Diver, aged 13, would convey nothing to most people, but to the staff of the institution it means the loss of a lovable and wonderfully courageous little boy. Known as “the child of the hospital,” he had spent half his lifetime there, it being seven years since he was admitted. Both his legs had been amputated, but in .spite of his sufferings he was the soul of pluck and cheerfulness, and the bright little figure in a wheeled chair with a starched white shirt, colored tie, and proudly-parted hair, ever made an inspiring though pathetic appeal. The love - which the nurses had for him was returned by Jimmie, and a week or two ago, when a correspondent wrote criticising the nursing at the Princess Mary Hospital, he was quick to send a letter in defence of the staff. At the last meeting of the Hospital Board, when reference was made to the matter, the little lad was spoken of as “the oldest inhabitant” of the hospital. Bronchitis was the immediate cause of his death.