Former Bradford nurse Sylvia Coleman, who cared for many people injured in the Bradford City fire, decided to mark her 60th birthday by making a donation to the Bosom Friends charity.

Bosom Friends (Bradford) has been running for more than 30 years, providing support to women affected by breast cancer.

Before she retired from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2016, Sylvia – known affectionately by staff as ‘Auntie Syl’ - dedicated much of her nursing career to looking after women who had breast reconstruction at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Sylvia devoted her career to plastic surgery and was on duty at St Luke’s Hospital on the day of the Bradford City fire. In the weeks and months following the fire, she tended to patients on the hospital’s plastic surgery wards, many of whom had suffered major burns to their hands and feet.

“In my last few years at the Trust I worked a lot with the breast reconstruction team and got to know many ladies who came to the dressings’ clinic, as well as the Bosom Friends team,” said Sylvia.

“I really wanted to support a charity to mark my 60th and Bosom Friends was the obvious choice, so I’m very glad to be able to give something back to help others.”

Julia Sunderland, from Bosom Friends, said: “We can’t thank Sylvia enough for her very kind donation. It will help us fund more cushions for newly diagnosed ladies and help towards the gifts we give patients after breast surgery.”

Earlier this year Bosom Friends funded two nurses to be trained in nipple tattooing following breast reconstruction; and they have also contributed towards extra things to make clinics and waiting rooms more homely.