Nurse Pauline Stratton was on safari when she died

Pauline Stratton, 54, from Carlisle, died in May in Malawi where she was on a visit to train other nurses.

On Tuesday night she was named winner of the Nursing Standard Nurse 2003 Award along with her colleague Clare McKenzie.

The two nurses had helped set up a link between the Cumberland Infirmary, in Carlisle, and an orthopaedic hospital in Blantyre where they shared their skills with local nurses.

The hospital aims to operate on 1,500 children every year for conditions such as club foot and bone deformities.

Mrs Stratton's daughter Michele Snaith picked up the award on her mother's behalf from Health Secretary John Reid.

Mrs Snaith, 36, from York, said her whole family were very proud of her mother's achievements and were honoured to receive the award.

Clare McKenzie (left) and Michele Snaith received the award

She said: "I am really chuffed. I feel very honoured and proud and I think I am going to cry.

"I did not know much about all the work my mum was doing before she died.

"She would be laughing that we are going through this. She would have hated all the attention but I think she would be pleased that her work was being recognised."

Mrs Snaith said her mother would not have wanted the link-up with Malawi to stop because of an accident.

She said her brother James, 33, and father Chris were very proud of what her mother had done.

Something positive

She said: "I would like to visit the hospital and see the work that she did, but not yet. It is only six months since mum died and it's still a bit raw."

Ms McKenzie, from Aspatria, near Carlisle, said she was also honoured to pick up the award and said she would recommend to Dr Reid that schemes like their one in Malawi continued.

She said Mrs Stratton's death had been a tragedy for the whole team and the award was "a small consolation".

But she said it was good that something positive should come out of the negative that had happened.

She said: "We are very proud of what Pauline did. On her last visit to Malawi she even helped nurse the first ever patient in the country to have a hip replacement."