Staff at University Hospital Hairmyres organised a very special visit.
Physiotherapist, Fiona MacDonald, arranged for two police horses to visit Eleanor Dempster. This is because Eleanor was one of the first female officers appointed to the mounted branch of Glasgow Police in 1974.
Fiona said: “We like to find out about each individual’s likes and interests to see if we can incorporate anything into their therapy and recovery programme.
“We learned about Eleanor’s career and her love of horses. One of our nurses brought in a saddle to help with Eleanor’s rehabilitation by getting her to polish the saddle to build up her arm strength. You could see the positive effect this had on Eleanor.
“As this was such a success, I emailed the mounted police to find out if there was anything else we could do and they were more than happy to help.”
Sergeant Lisa Connelly, Police Scotland mounted branch, said: “A photo of Eleanor and her two colleagues from the 1970s has been on display in the mounted branch for years. They are a real inspiration for us.
“As soon as everyone at the mounted branch became aware that the request was for Eleanor, we were all really keen to get involved.
“One of our grooms filmed some footage in our yard for Eleanor and sent the video to Fiona. Once we found out how much Eleanor enjoyed the video, we were keen to arrange a visit because she paved the way for females in the mounted branch. It was lovely to meet her.”
Eleanor, who lives in East Kilbride, had a stroke just before Christmas and spent some time as an inpatient at the hospital in the town.
She joined City of Glasgow Police in 1967 as a constable and was given the opportunity to become one of the first women officers to join the mounted police branch.
Already a keen horse rider, Eleanor completed the necessary training before she and fellow colleague Avril Dempsey took to the streets of Glasgow in 1974.
Fiona Campbell, a police constable who has 12 years’ service in the mounted unit, said: “Seeing Eleanor’s face light up when she saw the horses was amazing.
“We presented Eleanor with the photo of her and her two colleagues that had been hanging in the mounted unit, it can now take pride of place in her home.”
