Governor Sir John Vereker cast some Christmas cheer among hospital patients yesterday.

During his annual festive tour of King Edward VII Memorial he dropped in on Erica Swan. She broke her right leg and fractured her left after falling on steps outside a store in Hamilton.

Sir John was probably not high on the list of people she expected to sign her plaster cast.

But during a whistle-stop ward visit yesterday morning the Governor, along with wife Lady Vereker, grabbed a marker pen and placed his signature beside the names of Mrs. Swan?s husband and children. ?I was just sitting here waiting for time to pass, and who comes in there but the Governor,? said the patient.

The 34-year-old admitted her fall earlier this week had left her ?kind of broken up?. But she was hoping to be back at her Pembroke home today with her three children in time for Christmas.

Sir John started his tour in the Continuing Care Unit where he met about 20 long-term elderly and disabled patients.

Edith Emne, 74, recovering from a back operation carried out in Boston, had a brief chat with the dignitaries. Afterwards she said: ?I really appreciated the visit.?

Sir John then moved on to thank a handful of volunteers from the Hospitals Auxiliary of Bermuda.

Dubbed the pink ladies, and men, the unsung heroes run the hospital cafe and gift shop, help on the wards and work on the front desk. They donated a bumper sum of more than $1 million to the hospital last year.

And the 500-strong army of volunteers give up nearly 50,000 hours a year in unpaid time ? and save the hospital about $80,000 a year just by manning the reception.

Pink lady Heidi Augustinovic, who said new volunteers were always needed, described yesterday?s recognition as ?absolutely lovely?. The Governor later told he and Lady Vereker always enjoyed visiting King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute at Christmas time.

?It?s an opportunity to say a very sincere thank you to all the staff who do such a terrific job caring for the patients,? he added.

Sir John said he was delighted to meet patients and hear their stories. One told him how she had worked as a missionary in Liberia for 30 years.

Referring to his chat with Mrs. Swan, he joked: ?I did not expect to be signing autographs today.?