Newry hairdresser Debbie is an ‘Everyday Hero’ after act of kindness

An elderly lady had fallen outside the shop and fractured her cheekbone, and Debbie rushed to ensure that she was safe. Weeks later, when the same client missed her appointment, Debbie had a gut instinct that something was wrong, and she was correct as the woman had fallen in the shower.

Had it not been for Debbie's actions in contacting the woman's daughter, the situation could have been so much worse.

“She was coming in, and she fell outside the salon. She had quite a nasty injury. She fractured her cheekbone,” Debbie explained.

“So, obviously I went out straight away, and made sure that she was ok and I contacted her daughter to come down. We had got her mopped up and cleaned up, and were trying to keep her calm and settled, and her daughter took her then to A&E, and got her sorted.

“But a few weeks later, again, with her appointment... I've been doing her hair a long, long, time. You can put your watch by her - you always know exactly what time she'll turn up.

“But on this day, the time was wearing on, and I thought, 'she's not here, and she hasn't phoned me'. My gut was just telling me that there was something not right. So I rang her daughter again and explained that to her.

“When she got down and found her mum, her mum had fallen in the shower and had been lying there for a few hours.

“Only I kind of raised the alarm, it could have been a very different outcome.”

Thankfully however, there was good news, and the woman is back on the mend.

“She was actually in here today,” Debbie said.

“She got her hair done, and she's doing so well. She's still a bit sore, but it was just fabulous to have her back in again, she's wonderful.”

The award was given out by charity Bolster Community, who hosted a milestone conference to highlight the life-changing impact of early intervention and celebrate 20 years of service to the community of Newry and Mourne.

The ‘Everyday heroes: celebrating extraordinary impact’ event took place at the Canal Court Hotel in Newry and brought together leaders and key voices in social work, government, healthcare, education and community development to learn, connect and champion support strategies.

Rinse Your Blues hair salon have been operating on Marcus Street in Newry for 13 years, and Debbie has been a hairdresser for 28 years.

“I love a salon that everybody's welcome and feels comfortable in it. You can be professional but also make people feel very welcome.

“If I was getting in somewhere, I would like to think, people would be nice to you, you know, or if my mum was going in somewhere, or my granny or anybody was going anywhere.

“I just try to treat people like they're one of my own. It's that old saying, manners and looking after people, it doesn't cost anything.”