Rose Amankwaah, once dubbed as the “Fastest woman in Africa”, is retiring after working for almost 50 years in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), BBC reported.

The Ghanaian-born moved to the UK in 1975 after participating in the 100 metre relay race at the Munich Olympics of 1972 where she represented Ghana.

In 1974, she won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand.

In 2023, she added another milestone to her career, after she was presented with the NHS Silver Medal Award by England’s chief nurse, Dame Ruth May.

After moving to the UK in 1975, she began training to become a nurse at the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust.

She started off her career as a staff nurse, advancing up to the level of a theatre matron till the time of her retirement.

During her 49-year-long career, Amankwaah has seen it all, from open surgeries to a shift to laparoscopic and later to robotic surgeries.

She said, “I’m happy that I’m going to have some time with my family but I have been in this hospital all my life, so retirement feels like losing something, you are part of the furniture, and all of a sudden you are not going to be.”

“But I’m so happy that I have achieved what I wanted to achieve.”