LISTEN: Meet the Sault’s Mary Ann Barber; courageous nurse, veteran

This week, SooToday spoke with Sault native Mary Ann Barber, a former Canadian Forces captain and army nurse.

Now retired from the military, she lives in Vernon B.C. and works as a nurse practitioner, travelling to Nunavut to attend to patients.

Mary Ann still calls the Sault home, and likens her visits here to a visit to TV’s Cheers tavern (‘where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came’).

Mary Ann is justifiably proud of being a nurse practitioner, and, in addition, a former Canadian Forces nurse, as nurses were the first Canadian women to bravely deal with the horrors of war as they treated wounded and dying soldiers long before women became involved in combat roles on the front line.     

She shares with us some of the life changing experiences she underwent while posted to Afghanistan.

Those experiences led to her being afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), something she has fought like a true warrior.

Mary Ann’s story is one of a warm, humorous, engaging individual, a health care professional who cares for others, a story of a role model for women, nurses and military personnel alike, and one of yet another Sault native of whom our community can be proud.

To listen to our conversation with Mary Ann, click on the audio file embedded in this story.