From wartime mechanic to polio pioneer - the remarkable 100 years of Sunderland's 'Miracle Mum' Miriam Williams

Miriam Williams was given the name by nursing staff after she became one of the oldest women ever to have a first child in the city when daughter Janette was born 58 years ago.

She celebrated her big day with Janette and staff at the Bryony Nursing Home in Leechmere Road – and a very special cake featuring reminders of her life.

No-one was more surprised than Miriam that she had made it to her centenary: “I can’t believe it,” she said.

“I feel amazed, very much amazed.”

She puts her longevity down, at least in part, to the standard of care at the home: “They look after me very well,” she said.

Janette said her mother had lived a remarkable life, from serving as a mechanic in the WRAF during the war, to working as a medical secretary across Sunderland and pioneering the treatment of polio patients in the city.

Her wartime service left an indelible mark in more ways than one: “She has her own war wound,” said Janette.

"She was working on the wing of a plane and they did not check before moving it. She fell off and hit the tarmac.”

The incident left Miriam with facial bruising which is still visible decades later.

She certainly made a good impression on her superiors. Janette still has her mother’s wartime service record, which refers to her as ‘a very keen and trustworthy worker, who has acquired a very good knowledge of air frame fitting’.

After the war, Miriam went to work for the fledgling NHS: “She worked as medical secretary to various surgeons across Sunderland, including in orthopedics and at the Eye Infirmary and the Royal Infirmary,” said Janette.

"She worked with polio victims, helping to get them walking sticks and calipers and she fought for the first home-schooling in the town for children with polio who were in hospital or unable to attend school.

"For the Coronation, she managed to secure a place outside the Palace for a miner who had been paralysed from the neck down. She got him to see the Coronation and sorted funding for accommodation and the train so he could go and see the Queen.”

Miriam continued to devote herself to caring for others and, with Janette’s dad not around, was effectively a single mum.

"She gave up wok to look after my nana and granda, then when they passed she looked after my great-aunt,” said Janette.

"Later we both looked after her sister, who had Alzheimer’s.”

Always curious, Miriam pursued a number of interests in later life: “She learned to swim in her 60 in a swimming pool in Sorrento – even though she was terrified of the water.

"She wanted to do something for herself, so she starred sequence dancing – she would go regularly well into her late 80s.”

She remained active until a fall at home a few years ago: “At 95, she was still walking my Springer Spaniel around the Silksworth Sports Complex and she would still go on the bus into town,” said Janette.

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