meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Desert Island Discs

Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, former nurse

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.413.7K Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2020

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Elizabeth Anionwu is a retired nurse, campaigner and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London. A fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, she spent 40 years in the profession and has been named one of the most influential nurses in the history of the NHS. Her career was distinguished by her pioneering work in the understanding of sickle cell disease - bringing better treatment and support to the thousands living with it. She was the first sickle cell and thalassaemia nurse counsellor in the UK. Her decades of dedication, care and service are a contrast to her own disrupted childhood as a mixed race child born out of wedlock in the 1940s, though it was the kindness of a nurse when she was just five that sparked a nascent interest in what would become her life’s work. After leaving school at 16, with seven O-levels, Elizabeth was made a Professor of Nursing in 1998. She left her day job behind in 2007, but as she puts it “it has not turned out to be a quiet retirement”. She spent nine years fundraising and campaigning for a statue to British-Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole. Unveiled in 2016 in the grounds of St Thomas’ Hospital, London, the statue is the first in the UK to represent a named black woman. Elizabeth received the DBE in 2017 for services to nursing and the Mary Seacole Statue Appeal. DISC ONE: Faith’s Song by Amy Wadge DISC TWO: The Rakes of Mallow, Girl I Left Behind by The Gallowglass Ceili Band DISC THREE: Manman by Leyla McCalla DISC FOUR: A Te,O Cara by Andrea Bocelli DISC FIVE: Missa Bilban by The Jamaican Folk Singers DISC SIX: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free by Nina Simone DISC SEVEN: Nnekata by Flavour N'abania DISC EIGHT: My Girl by Otis Redding BOOK CHOICE: Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama LUXURY ITEM: A trampoline CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free by Nina Simone Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Cathy Drysdale

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts

0:05.0

Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Desert Island Disks Podcast.

0:08.8

Every week I ask my guests to choose the 8 tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take

0:13.4

with them if they were cast away to a desert island.

0:16.6

For right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.

0:20.7

I hope you enjoy listening.

0:30.0

Music Radio Music

0:43.2

My cast away this week is Professor Dame Elizabeth Naked Annie Onwool, an emeritus professor

0:49.1

of nursing and fellow of the Royal College of Nursing she spent 40 years in the profession

0:54.3

and has been named one of the most influential nurses in the history of the NHS.

0:59.8

Her career was distinguished by her pioneering work in the understanding of sickle cell disease,

1:04.9

bringing better treatment and support to the thousands living with it.

1:08.9

She was the first sickle cell specialist nurse in the UK.

1:13.4

Her decades of dedication, care and service are a contrast to her own disrupted and difficult

1:18.7

childhood as a mixed-raised child born out of wedlock in the 1940s, though it was the

1:23.6

kindness of a nurse when she was just five that sparked a nascent interest in what would

1:28.7

become her life's work.

1:30.9

She left her day job behind in 2007, but as she puts it, it has not turned out to be a

1:36.1

quiet retirement.

1:37.8

As well as receiving her day input, she spent nine years fundraising and campaigning for

1:42.5

a statue to British Jamaican nurse Mary Seacall.

1:46.1

Unveiled in 2016 in the grounds of St Thomas's Hospital, the statue is the first representing

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.