At 103, Margaret Norris still likes to do things her own way.

Her family says community nursing has helped her stay remarkably independent in her own home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

Margaret was born in Doncaster in 1923, but moved to Illinois in the United States when she was a baby after her family relocated. They returned when she was 10 and settled in Rotherham.

Adjusting was not easy.

“I remember having fish and chips as a little girl and thinking what horrible food it was,” she says. “It was nothing like I was used to in the States.”

More than 90 years later, her tastes have shifted.

“I have cod and chips on a Friday, and if we eat in I’ll have a pot of tea,” she says. “Jean just gets a fish and shares my chips.”

Her daughter, Jean Hodgkinson, 74, lives “two streets down” from Margaret’s bungalow.

“We like to look on Facebook together,” Jean says. “Mum also like doing online shopping, she buys a lot of clothes. I do have to reign her in a bit.”

Margaret met her husband Norman in 1944 while he was serving in the Royal Air Force. They married two years later and had four children. Norman died in 1985, aged 59, after medical complications.

Margaret says she was reluctant at first to accept help from district nurses.

“I like to do things my own way,” she says. “You don’t want people coming in and having a nosey in your business and your drawers and cupboards, going into your fridge and making food, that’s always been my job. But they come in and do a good job and I really appreciate it.”

Sharon Hunter, a district nurse in Maltby, has cared for Margaret since 2014.

“Margaret is a very independent lady,” she says. “We come in and look after her and keep her dignity. We dress her legs and use special pressure-inflating equipment for her. She’s really interested in our lives too and so respectful and kind.”

Sharon says she makes about “18 to 20” visits a day and that every patient has “different needs”.

“I have to make them feel the most important person of my day, however busy I am,” she says.

When Margaret recently celebrated her birthday, Sharon asked children at the local primary school to make her a card.

“Its what community nursing and community spirit is,” she says. “We wanted to make it special for her.”

Jean, who shares her mother’s Christian faith and takes her to church every Sunday morning, says caring for her mother has required adjustment.

“It’s strange to suddenly start taking your mother to the toilet,” she says.

She says the extra support has helped them find the right balance.

“I’ve always felt I didn’t want my mother to go in a home,” Jean says. “Partly because I don’t think she would cope very well, but also partly because the home wouldn’t cope too.”

“She’s a strong personality, but I’d worry she would go downhill.”

Three years ago, Margaret received a card from Buckingham Palace signed by King Charles and Queen Camilla to mark her 100th birthday. Margaret joked: “Well I beat her, didn’t I?”

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