Colten Care home Woodpeckers resident Diana Creasey turns 102

FORMER nurse Diana Creasey is advising people to stay active after celebrating her 102nd birthday with friends and family.

Described by care staff as an “inspiration”, Diana moved into Colten Care home Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst in 2023, aged 100.

Sitting among many greeting cards, flowers and gifts, the centenarian shared her secret for a long, happy life, saying: “Stay active, keep going, follow a good diet and make sure to have lots and lots of fresh air. And a glass of sherry helps.”

The advice follows a lifelong career in nursing and healthcare, both in paid roles and, after retirement, as a care volunteer for several years at Lymington’s Oakhaven hospice.

After the freedom of a “happy and carefree” childhood growing up in North Devon in the 1920s and ‘30s, Diana trained as a nurse and found herself working in plastic surgery nursing during the Second World War.

Serving at London hospitals, she cared for many army personnel coming back from the horrors of the frontline.

One memory from the time of the Blitz was nursing in an underground basement hospital with pregnant women on one side of the ward and casualties on the other. “It was a very stressful time,” Diana recalled.

“She recounts her wartime memories very well,” explained Woodpeckers Companionship team member Sian Harris. “She is obviously very proud of the work she and the teams around her did.”

Sian said Diana remains a “very active” lady, taking daily walks around the Woodpeckers garden with the help of team members.

“She was an inspiration when she moved to Woodpeckers aged 100,” said Sian. “And she is still inspiring the staff and residents now aged 102.

“The very fact she is this remarkable age and still as active as she is makes her truly very special.”