Local man Paul Murray, who worked at Causeway Hospital, Coleraine, sadly died after a cardiac arrest in February after nursing for 25 years. After Paul was nominated for the award, the Royal College of Nursing said that he had received a record number of nominations. The RCN Nursing Awards 2021 were live-streamed from RCN headquarters in London on Tuesday, October 12. Special guests for this evening of celebration were actor Emilia Clarke, broadcaster Kate Garraway, Chief Executive, Foundation of Nursing Studies, Joanne Bosanquet and General Secretary & Chief Executive, Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen. In the most challenging time in NHS history, the RCN Nursing Awards (formerly the RCNi Nurse Awards) recognise excellence in nursing and healthcare. The 2021 awards acknowledge the outstanding efforts, commitment and achievements made by the whole of the nursing community. Awarding the Patient’s Choice category to Paul, the RCN said: “A record number of nominations were submitted for nurse practitioner Paul Murray to receive a Patient’s Choice Award and he has won the award after a public vote. “Mr Murray, who worked at Causeway Hospital, Coleraine, died after a cardiac arrest in February. “The testimonies from people he supported show the huge impact he had on the people he cared for as well as the wider community. “The nominations included accounts of numerous occasions where he went above and beyond to get people with terminal cancer discharged from hospital to spend time with their families. In one case, he organised a helicopter to take a man at the end of life to Scotland so he could die at home with his family.” A group called Paul’s Legacy has been established to “honour Paul by helping to prevent further loss of life from cardiomyopathy in our local area, through cardiac screening and awareness raising. “To enable us to do this we will be planning a series of community-based fundraising events for all ages across the North Coast during 2021 and beyond.” Check out https://www.facebook.com/PaulsLegacyNI for further information.