Much-missed nurse honoured with posthumous award

A much-missed chief nurse who died after she was kicked by a horse has been honoured with a prestigious award from the Chief Nursing Officer for England.

Sam Young, 58, from Baschurch, Shropshire, was interim chief nurse at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) when she died last June.

The posthumous award, marking her exceptional professional contributions, was given to her partner Roo Terry in an outdoor ceremony at the hospital on Wednesday.

He said: "Every day she came home with a positive story."

Trust board chair Harry Turner added: "We miss her every single day. She made a genuine difference. She had a rare ability to connect at every level."

Young died on 19 June after a horse she was leading at Platt Mill Stables in Boreatton bolted sideways and kicked her in the chest.

She joined RJAH in 2022 after a career in the army, and the gathering heard how she had shown "exemplary nursing leadership" and striven for "continuous improvement".

Jacqueline Barnes, representing NHS England's chief nursing officer, said: "Sam was a joy to work with. Her empathy was second to none."

The hospital's chief executive, Stacey Keegan, unveiled an aeolian wind harp in the hospital's path of positivity as a tribute to Young's love of music.

A plaque alongside it is inscribed with a quote from a William Ernest Henley poem — "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul"— that the nurse used to write in every new notebook she started at work.

"They are words which inspired and guided Sam, and now they will stand here to help others too," Keegan added.

In December 2025, the hospital created and presented the Sam Young Innovation and Improvement Award to honour her passion for improvement and driving positive change.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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