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ANECDOTES about ELEANOR BERRY by Rozanne Robinson, a freelance jounalist
At Least, She Didn't Get 'Flu.
Ever since her early childhood, Berry has had a pathological fear of illness.
She went to a prep school called Godstowe and shared a dormitory with other girls.
There was a lot of 'flu about. The girl sleeping in the bed next to Berry, had been stricken and had been copiously sick on the floor. When the Matron came in, Berry was gaping at the mess in mesmerized horror.
"Oh, my Gawd, did you make that disgusting mess, Berry, you barmy idiot?"
"No, Matron."
"Get your face out of it then, you morbid blighter!." She added, " I suppose I'll have to go all the way downstairs and get the bumper. I can tell you one thing, if Jesus Christ had woken up in the middle of the night feeling sick, he would have taken the trouble to get up and go to the lavatory."
So terrified was Berry of catching the girl's germ, that she bundled up her bedclothes and climbed up onto the roof, using the fire escape. The month was February and the outside temperature just below zero. Some people might have considered her behaviour a bit "Oirish", but not Eleanor Berry.
She lay on the roof, having rolled herself up in her blankets, and stared happily at the stars, and rejoiced in the fact that the cold February wind was devoid of germs.
The next day, Berry was admitted to hospital, having been seen, unconscious on the roof, by a passing gardener. She had been unconscious for a while, having contracted pneumonia in both lungs.
She woke with a euphoric smile.
"I can't tell you how pleased I am I didn't catch that girl's 'flu," she said.
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