A mum has been reunited with the nurse who helped to save her daughter's life years ago in a chance meeting after moving to a new village.
Rebecca Morris, 40, had just moved to Sutton Bonington from Castle Donington along with her children - including eight-year-old Emily Morris.
Emily had previously been seriously ill with pneumonia shortly before her second birthday, ending up in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.
Emily recovered and, along with her brother Henry, started at Sutton Bonington primary school in January of this year.
That is when her mum Rebecca was invited on a mum's night out at a local pub - where she met mum-of-three Gemma Harris who was sat opposite her.
After making conversation, Ms Harris mentioned that she worked at the Queen's Medical Centre with children.
After going more in depth, the pair realised that Ms Harris had in fact been in the ambulance with Emily when she took a turn for the worse in the middle of the night and had to be transferred from Royal Derby Hospital to the QMC, via Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.
Ms Morris told Nottinghamshire Live: "We were really quite worried about her - she was very, very poorly.
"It was very serious. We prepared ourselves for the worst at one point. Luckily, in the end, she improved and then got stronger and stronger each day.
"I always thought about the trip to the QMC. She was that ill that we weren't allowed in with her and it takes ages when the patient is that poorly. We knew she was in the best hands, but to know Gemma was there with her is amazing."
Gemma told her she remembered her dark hair.
She was one of a number of medical professionals who were sent to the Royal Derby Hospital to collect her and bring her back to Nottingham.
Fast forward to 2022 and Mrs Harris has a son who is in the same year as Emily's younger brother - which means they regularly see each other at the school gates.
Ms Morris continued: "It feels like more than a coincidence - it does feel like fate!
"The fact that she remembered Emily so well shows that it isn't just a job - each and every case affects them and they do an incredible job."
After finding out how important her role was in Emily's life, Ms Morris was then able to reintroduce them again the following Monday after school.
"It was quite a moment," she said.
"Emily always knew about her illness. But to be able to introduce Gemma to her again was quite emotional."
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