Sr de Lourdes Campbell is believed to be the oldest New Zealander living with multiple sclerosis (MS), an incurable neurological condition affecting the central nervous system.
She enjoyed a birthday lunch at the Otago Multiple Sclerosis Society's rooms in Dunedin, knowing it was the last time she would take part in the weekly games day.
Sr de Lourdes Campbell had a stroke a fortnight ago, and hurt the leg least affected by her condition.
Sitting in her wheelchair, she said it was time to stay home and take it easy.
"You know, the MS doesn't kill us. It's the complications that come with it, such as the falls, that get you," she said.
"The fatigue of MS, that's what is so crippling to people and which makes things difficult. I've been coming here for more than 40 years, but it is very tiring. So many things can be tiring, now."
One of nine children, Dunedin-born Sr de Lourdes Campbell was a trained teacher when she joined the Sisters of Mercy in 1947.
By 1950, the teaching sister was "tripping up the stairs".
She went to every doctor she could - she was frequently told "whatever it was, it was in my head" - and was finally diagnosed as having MS in 1957.
"Well, it was such a relief. By then, I honestly did think it was in my head, just as many other people with MS do," she said.
"It was good to finally know what was wrong, even if the doctors didn't really know what it was."
She was soon using a wheelchair as a walking-aid and as a seat when she was tired.
Pupils pushed her chair from the convent to St Mary's in Mosgiel, where she was head teacher for 17 years before moving to teach in Alexandra.
She helped start an adult literacy programme at Dunedin Prison in the 1970s - teaching everything from automotive engineering to horticulture - and received a Queen's Service Medal for her work before she retired from teaching in 1992.
"Yes, I suppose it may sound as though I have been busy, but you really have to push yourself, as if nothing is wrong with you," Sr de Lourdes Campbell said.
"When you have MS, you should push yourself as though you can do anything anyone else can do, except that you happen to be doing it in a wheelchair."
Otago MS Society development co-ordinator Liz Carroll-Lowe said society records showed Sr de Lourdes Campbell was the oldest New Zealander living with MS.
"Sister" was the society's "matriarch" and an inspirational character for members living with the condition.
