Fourteen years after sitting alongside Sir Bobby Robson and helping launch the foundation which bears his name, Professor Ruth Plummer has been made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
The top oncologist, who treated Sir Bobby, remains director of the Sir Bobby Robson cancer trials research centre at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle - and she's been honoured for services to medicine throughout a pioneering career so far. Prof Plummer was a consultant looking after the legendary former Newcastle United and England football manager when, after she mentioned the need for half a million pounds to set up a clinical trials unit in the city, he declared he would help her find the cash.
This was the beginning of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation - which has raised in excess of £16m pounds since 2008. In support of Ruth's nomination for the gong, Lady Elsie Robson, Sir Bobby's wife, wrote a moving letter - and she has shared this with ChronicleLive.
