AFTER a “life-changing” few weeks on board a Christian charity ship, a young woman – whose own life was saved nearly 19 years ago by a Basingstoke doctor – is more determined than ever to fulfil her dreams of becoming a nurse.

Regina Conteh, whose story was featured by The Gazette just before Christmas, volunteered alongside Basingstoke hospital’s Dr Keith Thomson on a Mercy Ship, which brings medical aid to people in struggling countries.

It is a vessel similar to the one on which consultant anaesthetist Dr Thomson was working in Sierra Leone in 1993 when, during a visit to a local maternity hospital, he paid for Regina’s mother Catherine to have a life-saving Caesarean delivery – saving her life and that of baby Regina.

Dr Thomson has previously told The Gazette: “When I saw Catherine, I just knew that I had to help. Without the operation, she certainly would have died, and despite her husband’s best efforts, they had no chance of raising the $100 she needed for the operation.”

Fast forward nearly two decades, and after serving on the same ship as Dr Thomson, Regina, now 18, said: “At first, I wasn’t sure about whether or not I even wanted to go out to a Mercy Ship. Now I feel so blessed that I had the opportunity to go, and am so glad that I made the most of the opportunity.”

Regina spent around five weeks on the Africa Mercy over the Christmas period, travelling to her home country of Sierra Leone, before spending three weeks in Ghana, where she lived for five years, and finally travelling to Tonga. She met up with friends and family during the trip, some of whom she hadn’t seen in nearly seven years.

She was joined for the latter part of the voyage by Dr Thomson, who used part of his time on the ship to organise an anaesthetists conference, which he hopes to hold in May in Ghana.

Regina volunteered in the galley and in hospitality during her time on board and said that she hoped to return in a nursing role.

She is currently in the process of applying to study nursing at university in Australia.

She said: “I know I’m going to be back on the ship, and I would love to come back and get involved with the nursing side of it when I’m qualified.”

Dr Thomson, 64, said: “It really was a life-changing trip for her. It was wonderful to spend time with Regina. She really made the most of her time there.”

Regina has now returned to Perth, Australia, where she lives with her parents and two-year-old brother Derek.