100 year old great grandmother from Leeds given a new knee is looking forward to tending her roses

Margaret Marshall had been in a lot of pain with osteoarthritis and could hardly walk – a real blow for the sprightly and independent centenarian, whose party trick is to touch her toes.

Now, she is back out in her beloved garden after ditching her sticks and walking unaided just a couple of months following partial knee replacement surgery on the NHS.

Mrs Marshall, whose home overlooks Roundhay Park, said: “It’s given me a new lease of life. I can tend to my rose bushes. I also like to go to the shop and nearby places like Canal Gardens and Tropical World.”

An ambulance driver in Leeds during the Second World War, Mrs Marshall is well-known within the Roundhay community, where she has lived for more than 60 years.

As well as being part of the local Townswomen’s Guild, performing amateur dramatics and volunteering for Meals on Wheels, she also went to keep fit classes at Oakwood Parochial Hall right into her 90s, only stopping when the leader of the session retired.

Mrs Marshall had the elective surgery at BMI The Duchy Hospital, in Harrogate. The operation was carried out by consultant orthopaedic surgeon Professor Nick London, who also heads the Yorkshire Knee Clinic, in Leeds.

“In more than 20 years as a consultant, I haven’t performed total or partial knee replacement surgery on anyone of Mrs Marshall’s age.

“But as with all my patients, it was a balance between the risks and benefits of surgery.

“Mrs Marshall is an extraordinary 100-year-old lady who lives a fit and active life and up until last year was able to do what she wanted. For her, the osteoarthritis was extreme enough that she was potentially going to lose the independence that is so important to her.”

Mrs Marshall has three sons, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Her husband Weir, who she married in the early 1940s, died in 2002 aged 91. In May she celebrates her 101st birthday.

She celebrated her 100th with a few close family and friends in her garden after a planned party for 80 people at Weetwood Hall Hotel was cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.