Diolch, Llywydd. This Friday marks International Nurses Day, an annual celebration of the tireless work and dedication of nurses across the world. This year the theme is ‘nursing heroes’. While we can all name nurses past and present who are heroes, I’ll be joining nurses from Aneurin Bevan health board to talk about a truly amazing woman: Annie Brewer. Annie was born in 1874 in Newport. Qualifying as a nurse in 1899, she was travelling through France at the outbreak of world war one. During the war, Annie worked on the front line, treating hundreds of soldiers, often in the midst of battle. In 1917, Annie’s ambulance came under shellfire and she was wounded while trying to bring injured soldiers back to base. Despite the danger she was in, Annie put her own life at risk to care for the wounded. During the battle of Verdun, Annie helped with 229 operations in seven days. That’s one every 45 minutes. For her courage and personal sacrifice, Annie was awarded one of the highest gallantry medals a French Government can bestow. It was said that Annie gave a magnificent example of coolness and absolute disregard for danger, lavishing her care on the wounded under enemy fire. Annie returned to Newport after the war to care for her own mother, but died shortly after. This astounding courage and compassion is the mark of a remarkable person, someone we must remember and a perfect example of a nursing hero.