Girl power birthday surprise

That was before her day was made by Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole who burst onto the ward singing ‘Happy Birthday’ with a birthday cake in her hands and a personally signed birthday card for Lyndsey.

The singer had been visiting Camp Bastion to present the troops with a ‘Pride of Britain’ award, and unknown to Lyndsey, the staff had organised her birthday surprise making her 25th birthday on Thursday a very special occasion.

Delighted mum, Dorothy, said the surprise had lifted her daughter’s spirits.

“Lyndsey is an ICU nurse with the Royal Navy. She has been in the Navy six years past in June, after three years of nurse training, and she really loves her job, although Afghanistan is not always pleasant. She sees a lot of rough things, but she is enjoying her work. She works with children and civilians and military patients,” said her mum.

Lyndsey has been in Afghanistan since July on a four-month posting, and will be coming home in October.

“Cheryl Cole was out doing the Pride of Britain Awards, and this year marked the tenth year that the war has been going on in Afghanistan, so the trip was also a morale boosting one.

“Lyndsey telephones home once a week and gets one half-hour telephone card she can use, so she had a few minutes left on her card and within 10 minutes of meeting Cheryl she was on the phone to me. She said Cheryl had gone to the hospital where she works and came in to the ward singing Happy Birthday with a cake and a card for her. She enjoyed every moment of it even though she was shocked to meet the singer. She knew Cheryl was coming to visit, but did not expect to meet her, but the rest of the staff had arranged this and had the cake specially baked for her.”

Thanks to the miracle of modern technology and social networking sites, photos of the occasion made their way home almost instantly, and they are among the most treasured possessions Lyndsey’s family now have, given the distance that separates the birthday girl from her proud mummy.

“I’m delighted for my daughter. It was a nice boost for her because they are out there doing difficult jobs, and the night before you could hear she was feeling a bit down, but that night it was quite a different story,” Dorothy said.