SHE was a helping hand and a shoulder to cry on all rolled into one.

Southampton General Hospital endoscopy sister Lisa Butler has been nominated for the Daily Echo Hospital Hero Award for keeping one of her patients grounded when she went through an extremely difficult and uncomfortable ordeal.

Sally Judd was apprehensive about going in for an endoscopy to assess her pancreas in January 2014 but said that she found complete reassurance thanks to Lisa’s extra efforts to make sure that she was comfortable.

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Sally, 67, from Romsey, said: “I was so scared on the day I went in for my assessment but Lisa talked me through the whole thing.

“She was supposed to be going home after I had gone in but when I came out she was there waiting for me.

“She is just the nicest person I have ever come across.”

Daily Echo:

Lisa Butler

Luckily Sally was relieved to find that it was only stones that were causing her trouble but she said that the support she received was invaluable.

She added: “Lisa really did go the extra mile. It was a horrible experience going in for the endoscopy but Lisa really kept me going.”

Mum-of-one Lisa, 36, from Southampton said: “It’s so lovely that Sally has taken the time to do something like this. I think sometimes you can take your job for granted and just keep going and things like this really make it feel so worthwhile.

“When Sally came in it was quite busy and I could see her getting worried. I just did my job by trying to make her feel as comfortable as possible.”

Lisa is among a number of NHS staff nominated for the award, which will be presented at a ceremony on March 3 at the Novotel hotel in Southampton.