Dr. Elizabeth Jane Bridger

Doctor Elizabeth Jane Bridger – May 5, 1957 – Mar 31, 2001

Love is the most written about topic in the human sphere, and it’s something I studiously avoid in my writing. Far better writers than I have plundered this trove, so I’m loathe to add my plodding prose. Instead, I’ll just say: the greats have mostly got it right. Love isn’t one thing, it’s a broad experience channelling through that narrow gate of human emotion, the metaphorical heart. Most of all, it is about remembering shared experiences, especially when the object of your love has moved on to whatever plane of existence may or may not be our next port of call.

I will tell you about someone I loved, though. That someone was Jane Bridger, daughter of the late Dr Peter and Betty Bridger, elder sister of Amanda.  

I first met Jane in September 1973, when she transferred from Howells School in Cardiff to the Bishop of Llandaff sixth form. I was an easy-going underachiever who met the demands of the education system with a devil-may-care attitude. I was going nowhere, and I didn’t really care much either. It would be easy to say Jane changed my laziness, but she didn’t. It was the thought of not being with her that caused me to ramp up my studiousness just sufficiently to stay close to her – wherever she went. I wasn’t really interested in academia, but she was clever – really clever – and while I have always been capable, it was unstructured. Jane was not only a lot cleverer than me, she was meticulous too. Some of that rubbed off and helped me on my way.

She was also a wonderful person to be with, mostly happy, considerate, well-mannered and empathetic. She was beautiful too – with a peaches and cream complexion; long, curly hair; a curvaceous figure, and sparkling blue eyes.

It was no surprise she became a surgeon after graduating – she always considered helping others to be more important than anything in the world.

It was also no surprise she fell victim to a degenerative nervous disease that would eventually kill her. Tragedy has always been reserved for the most perfect of us. So it was with Jane. She was destined to live a short, brilliant life and leave a trail of gratitude, love and hurt at her loss.

So it is, nearly two decades after her death, I find myself blogging about this wonderful woman. I remember her every year on the 31^st March, which coincidentally is also my birth month, and I spend some time expressing my gratitude at having met and loved her for a short while. I spill a few tears, drink a small toast and dwell on the good times.

Here’s to your memory, Jane.

Addendum: Jane’s Obituary

Former trust grade doctor in emergency medicine Taunton and Somerset Hospital (b Barnet 1957; q London 1984; BSc), died from respiratory failure secondary to anti-Jo 1 syndrome on 31 March 2001. She was based in Manchester for 10 years, but ill health struck in 1987. Jane continued to work part time, becoming an instructor for the Advanced Life Support courses. In1997 she moved to her beloved west Dorset and worked part time at Taunton and Somerset Hospital despite often having an oxygen saturation that was lower than the patients. When forced to relinquish this job, she continued to instruct on ALS courses in Dorchester until shortly before her death. She could be seen wheeling her oxygen cylinder around while fulfilling her instructor’s role. She set up the Jane Bridger Trust to further the cause of resuscitation in the United Kingdom. She designed wonderful needlepoint and woollen creations (not many people have knitted Rousseau’s Tropical Storm with a Tiger), and read voraciously. She leaves her mother and a sister.