ANNE Kaneen is, quite literally, a life-saver. She is the Bolton nurse who helped spearhead the town's heart care programme, both in and out of hospital.

She has spent more than 40 years in a profession which demands massive amounts from individuals, and four years ago was honoured with an MBE.

But, to "reward" her commitment to our community, scumbags who burgled her home and stole her car while she was on holiday, also stole her MBE. Quite naturally, she is devastated by the break-in, but more especially by the loss of this important medal.

Anne has always insisted that any honour is not just for her, but for all who work with her. That is the type of genuinely caring person she is.

It would be foolish to hope that any finer feelings come so naturally to those who ransacked her home. But, it is still worth an appeal to them to, please, at least give Anne back her medal.

It is not valuable; it cannot even be worn by anyone else. By simply returning it through the post or telling police where it is, it might at least prove that it is still worth people like Anne helping others in this town, irrespective of what they do.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.