A WOMAN of courage who lost both her legs to frostbite 59 years ago and later became an advocate for other amputees has lost a long battle with lymphoma.
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Jenny Elford, 79, was lost on the snow-covered Mount Donna Buang in August 1953.
A Wodonga resident for the past 30 years, she recently published her story in a book, The Snow Girl Story.
Mrs Elford and her then boyfriend, Kirk McLeod, had became lost and spent four nights in freezing conditions with no protective clothing or food.
They were found after a huge search but Mrs Elford’s legs had to be amputated below the knee.
Mrs Elford, then Jenny Laycock, was 20 and nursing in Melbourne when she and Mr McLeod made their fateful trip to Mount Donna Buang.
She married Hugh Elford in 1959 and they had two children.
The family lived two years in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1965-67.
In 1981 the family moved from Melbourne to Wodonga, Mr Elford managing Aware Industries for many years.
The couple had a strong Christian faith and became stalwarts of St John’s Anglican Church.
Having two artificial legs did not diminish Mrs Elford’s determination.
She co-ordinated the Albury-Wodonga amputee support group from 1987 and spoke out when amputee rehabilitation facilities at Lavington seemed under threat.
In 2002 she was awarded the Australian Sports Medal with other members of the Amputee Association of Victoria, which she had helped establish.
“I’ve been blessed with this attitude that it has never really worried me,” Mrs Elford once said.
“I see the beauty and the positiveness which came out of this situation.
“It could have been a tragedy but it wasn’t.
“At the time I was more concerned about my parents.
“We knew we were all right but they didn’t.”
Mrs Elford is survived by her husband, two children and a granddaughter.
A funeral service will be held at St John’s on Tuesday at 11.30am.
Editorial — page 26
