A DEVOTED carer who defied doctors to keep working after suffering a terrible fall is finally retiring - in time for her 84th birthday.

Port Glasgow great-great gran Sadie McKimm was treated to an emotional send off by all her friends at Belleaire Care Home in Greenock's west end.

The much loved house-keeper is a firm favourite with both staff and residents.

Her proud colleagues and family told how she recovered from two broken wrists after slipping on black ice while walking to work early on Christmas Day.

Despite being told she would need to retire, Sadie was soon back at Belleaire - and carried on working for another nine years.

Even in retirement Sadie has her eye on yet another comeback as she hopes to return to the home as a volunteer and then live there as a resident.

Sadie, of Rowan Court in Port Glasgow, who will be 84 at the end of the month, said: "I am so sad to go.

"I love the place and love coming into work with the staff and the residents.

"I said I am happy to volunteer to visit and I have my room booked in here - I have already picked it.

"I kept on working because it keeps you going."

Nine years ago Sadie, who'd already had a knee replacement, snapped both wrists when she slipped on ice on her way to work at 5am on Christmas Day.

Her second oldest son Daniel McCallum, 60 from Wellyard Way, Greenock said: "We are lucky she is still here.

"She was 75-years-old and was walking down a lane to get picked up when she fell on black ice.

"Luckily someone in a house overlooking the lane heard her calling for help or we could have lost her.

"She was lying there for at least ten minutes on a cold winter morning.

"The doctors told her she wouldn't be able to work again because of brittle bones but she was back up at the care home and they gave her another job."

"She is unbelievable - I thought I would be retiring before her!"

Sadie, who previously worked in various roles including as a bus conductor and in a local chemist's, started working as a carer at an age when most people are heading into retirement

She started at Belleaire 23 years ago and loved it so much she stayed.

After her fall the home found a role for Sadie as a house-keeper.

Colleague and friend Jackie Gibson, her supervisor, said: "Sadie is amazing and will be terribly missed.

"It won't be the same making up the weekly rota.

"Sadie continued to work so hard and hated it if I tried to ease her workload."

Sadie is now looking ahead to spending more time with her husband of 36 years, Matthew, 83, and her ever growing family.

The Port gran, who has five children, said: "I am going to fill my days by spending time with my husband, going on bus runs and I love a game of bingo.

"I also have another great, great grand child on the way."

Sadie and Matthew were childhood sweethearts and after going their separate ways they reunited later in life.

Sadie said: "Matthew was my first boyfriend, when I was 16.

" I met him again years later and that was it."

Belleaire deputy manager Avril McFarlane said: "It has been such a pleasure to work with Sadie and she will be missed by us all.

"She is an inspiration to us all."