Agnes Hunt.
Did the upbringing of Agnes Hunt have any impact on her later career?
1. Early days
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Agnes Hunt was born in 1867, the sixth of eleven children born to Rowland and Florence Hunt of Boreatton Park, Baschurch. At the age of nine Agnes developed septicaemia, an infection to the blood, which even today has a risk of mortality. This infection spread to her hip resulting in osteomyelitis, an inflammatory condition of the bone.
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![A photograph of The Hunt Family at Boreatton Park [Opens in new window: image size 59kb]](../../images/med_o14b.jpg)
The Hunt family at Boreatton Park
Larger image, in a new window [59kb]
[Reproduced with kind permission of "Healing and Hope" c/o Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital]
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In the early 20th century, before the introduction of antibiotics, this was a chronic, longstanding, condition and introduced Agnes Hunt to what it was like to be crippled and in constant pain. To be regarded as a cripple at that time usually meant that you were confined to a life of inactivity. However, her disablilty was not allowed to stand in her way.
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![An image of Dame Agnes Hunt [Opens in new window: image size 19kb]](../../images/med_f03b.jpg)
Agnes Hunt
Larger image, in a new window [19kb]
[Reproduced with kind permission of "Healing and Hope" c/o Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital]
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Her mother, a determined woman, did not allow Agnes to feel self pity. She was encouraged to do everything her able bodied siblings did. This combination of her strict upbringing and a hard nurse's training was to prove a great asset. It provided her with determination and tenacity, a good background for her pioneering work in setting up the first open air orthopaedic hospital.
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![A photograph of The Hunt Family at Boreatton Park [Opens in new window: image size 59kb]](../../images/med_o14a.jpg)
![An image of Dame Agnes Hunt [Opens in new window: image size 19kb]](../../images/med_f03a.jpg)