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Lily’s tribute to bravery of her close friend

6/12/2006

LILIAN Lovatt's best pal has told how her former co-worker could still enjoy a good laugh even when she was in hospital recovering from her dreadful injuries.

Lily Drabble, 82, of Wellington Road, Bollington, who called police after speaking to Lilian just moments after she was attacked said: "It is an awful, awful thing to have happened."

And she told in an exclusive interview how fear had spread throughout the elders of Bollington since the shocking attack back in February.

She said: "It's terrible and to be honest, it makes you afraid to go out after dark - you just don't expect things like that to happen in Bollington."

However, Lily Drabble has constantly had her best friend in her heart and is over the moon Lilian is on the mend.

"Even though she has suffered something awful, her personality still shines through," she said. "I went to visit her in hospital when she was recuperating. In fact on my way to one of the visits I wore a bit of black crepe on my head like what nuns wear - then I went in.

"She laughed and laughed. The only bad thing was that on my way out, I actually passed a real nun!

"When I told her about that the next time - it set her off again."

Lily, who used to hit the dance floor with her pal of more than 30 years before arthritis set in, met while working on the same paper machine at the Dean Valley Mill.

She said: "There's no way she would let herself be driven out of her home and she would never leave Bollington.

"But Lilian, no matter how hard she has found it, is determined to keep her independence.

"Because of what happened to her fingers, I tried to help her make a cup of tea at her home - but she wouldn't let me.

"She told me she didn't want mithering."