A DEDICATED carer who spent a lifetime helping Hampshire's sick and disabled residents, died from pneumonia after refusing to trouble her doctor.
Widow Pauline Sargant, of Heather Road, Blackfield, was never one to complain according to her daughter Paula.
She said: "She was very independent and didn't like bothering the doctors.
"She felt there were a lot of other people who needed the doctor more than she did. My sister Glynis came home from work and she couldn't get mum to do anything.
"A neighbour rang for an ambulance but she passed away at Southampton General Hospital."
Paula said Mrs Sargant assumed her sickness would "sort itself out" after taking a rare day off from volunteering at Dibden Monday Club.
Yan Verbeeren, who runs the disabled group, described Pauline as "an unsung heroine".
He said: "The week before she died my wife called her and she apologised saying she would not be in because she wasn't feeling well.
"Even on her deathbed she didn't want to be any trouble. Recently, she broke her toe, but she came in to help, making tea while standing on one foot.
"She was dedicated, selfless and only thought about the well-being of others."
In her spare time Mrs Sargant ran Blackfield's Red Cross, teaching first aid courses to youngsters and caring for the injured at local sporting events in between working full-time as a cleaner at Hythe Hospital's maternity unit.
In addition to raising four children, she volunteered at disability groups.
Mr Verbeeren was in the process of securing a commendation for the great grandmother for 50 years of tirelessly caring in the community.
He said: "I still want to have an award presented or a plaque dedicated to her. At one stage when our funding was cut, we lost a lot of volunteers but she stayed on. She kept the club running. We would have been lost without her."
Daughter Gynis said: "She was so hard working. She didn't stop. Even when she was sitting down she had to be knitting. Most of all she liked helping other people."
Mrs Sargant leaves children Wally, Linda, Glynis and Paula, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
A funeral will take place at Southampton Crematorium on Friday.
