A DAVENTRY doctor has retired from her practice after 28 years in the job.
Dr Patti Gardner will be leaving Abbey House Medical Practice in Golding Close on Friday next week to take early retirement.
The decision to hang up her stethoscope was inspired in part by a family trauma this year.
Her son, Ben, 30, was involved in a skiing accident in March which led him to be paralysed from the neck down.
Dr Gardner, 57, said: “He has since made a full recovery and he is now back at work.
“But it has made me realise that you should grab life by the horns and live it fully.”
She was full of praise for the staff as she looked back on a long career at the practice.
Dr Gardner said: “It has been an absolute privilege to work with all of the staff here for the past 28 years.
“I remember when I first came here, there were only seven partners, now there are 13 and we have a much bigger site.”
Dr Gardner said one aspect of the job she would miss most were her patients.
She added: “In this job, you get to meet babies when they are first born and then years later they have children of their own, so you are there throughout their life.
“I think that is an extraordinary thing and I hope they have got to know me as I have them. I will miss all of my patients.”
She is already looking well into the future and spending more time with her husband, Dr Alistair Craig, who retired from the same practice earlier this year.
Dr Gardner added: “I will be looking to increase my work with Freedom from Torture. I have in the past done cycle rides and climbs to raise funds for the charity. I will also be doing some local work.
“I absolutely love travelling and now that Alistair has retired, I hope we will be able to do some more of that.”