A South Shields radiographer has bid an emotional goodbye to her colleagues after spending more than 50 years fulfilling her childhood dream.
Barbara Bell was just 10 years old when she discovered her calling while at Girl Guides. After her Guides leader recommended radiography as a career, she decided that she wanted to help diagnose patients - and she never looked back.
Just seven years after that life-changing day, Barbara joined the NHS at the age of 17, where she worked as a dark room technician processing X-ray images. She then went on to achieve her ambition of becoming a radiographer at South Tyneside District Hospital.
