It is with a heavy heart I let the Digital Health Community know that Bridget Kirkham, the former CEO of the MSIA, has passed away.
She was a very good friend to me and many others and was very well known among our community and was a passionate advocate of the practical use of Digital Health.
I send my condolences to her partner and son as I am sure does everyone.
Feel free to post your reminiscences and condolences as a comment to this post.
With much sadness and a heavy heart!
David.
5 comments:
I'm shocked, feeling numb, lost for words. Devastating loss of a great friend with such amazing and varied talents. Rest in peace, matey! I'll keep an eye on Dunedin's albatrosses and try to keep up with the rugby... Go All Blacks!
Love and best wishes to family and friends
Kind, clever, mischievous, Bridget was a personality writ large and my dear friend.
Her tales of a childhood in rural New Zealand and years spent in London were filled with hilarious anecdotes, but within the cheeky escapades was a trailblazing woman kicking career goals in a man’s world.
Painter, gardener, cocktail connoisseur, scrabble player and political agitator, Bridget’s enthusiasm for life and capacity for mischief inspired me.
Her kindness did too. She called me six weeks after my grandmother died - she'd set herself a calendar reminder because she'd read somewhere that grief can set in then. It was such a Bridget thing to do. And so, as sad as I am now, I'm not looking forward to six weeks hence.
I know, David, that you will deeply miss your co-conspirator and friend.
My thoughts also go out to her partner, son and the many others who love her. xoxo
This is the second year Bridget and I have been watching live-streaming from the Royal Albatross site on Taiaroa Head, across the harbour from her beloved Dunedin. Last year we watched from hatching in summer to final take-off in September - on a multi-year flight before eventually returning to breed.
Bridget loved the birds so much she always kept the stream running on one of her many screens - often messaging me an alert to a visit from parents or the rangers.
Here's a link to a highlight from yesterday, although as I write I can see the rangers arriving to weigh baby...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdkNqu7Qpw
More info here...
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/albatrosses/royal-albatross-toroa/royal-cam/meet-the-royal-family/
I first met Bridget the day I attended my first MSIA meeting many years ago. After that Bridget was a constant presence in my life. I would get a note on skype - 'Got a minute?', which would almost always be followed by at at 45 minutes of cheery and passionate discussion covering a diverse set of subjects including her faux horror at being a kiwi expat trapped in Australia, her passionate views about politics, healthcare IT, and many other subjects.
Bridge knew everybody, it seemed, and her life's work to was to make sure we were all connected and doing the right thing for anyone who needs a more effective healthcare system - that is all of us.
I'm devastated by our loss; we are all poorer because of it.
I never met Bridget, but talked with her on the phone many times. The last time was a couple of weeks ago. She was about to go in to see her GP - she said she'd had the flu.
What I admired most about Bridget was she cared about people. She would do anything if asked and many people did.
I echo Grahame's sentiment - we are all poorer.
My condolences go out to her partner and son.
And thank you David for your part in all this.
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