Nurses' Day in Singapore falls on August 1 every year.

In celebration of this year's event, Honour Singapore has featured the inspiring story of former nurse Katherine Yue, who spent over 30 years caring for patients.

The 52-year-old is now a patient herself at Assisi Hospice.

And even though her days are numbered, she is determined to live them out meaningfully.

Rescued people in Hotel New World's collapse

In the 1980s, it was between teaching or nursing, Yue said.

Yue chose to be a nurse, and quickly learnt that it was a challenging role that involved plenty of sacrifices.

Enjoying a good challenge, however, she explained that she loved the thrill of being involved in "front-line rescuing."

Yue recalled how she was part of the field team for emergency rescue during the Hotel New World collapse, where she was attached to the Accident & Emergency department.

In her line of work, she also got to witness the happenings in operating theatres — an experience that she otherwise would not have been exposed to had she taken a desk-bound job.

"There's lots of blood... I view how the doctor stitched from a layer of skin to another layer of skin. And this brought a lot of excitement to my profession."

Diagnosed with cancer in 2011

Her caregiving role was reversed when Yue became a patient herself in April 2011.

She was diagnosed with stage 3A ovarian cancer, and doctors were not optimistic.

However, according to Yue's sister, she remained "very brave" through chemotherapy, which she initially responded well to.

Unfortunately, three years later, Yue relapsed to Stage 4 peritoneal disease, a rare cancer that develops in a thin layer of tissue that lines the abdomen.

Yue went through 22 cycles of chemotherapy, but sadly, the cancer spread.

In April 2018, Yue was warded in Assisi Hospice, where she will spend the last of her days.

Music lover

As a patient in Assisi Hospice, Yue finds great joy in music therapy sessions.

Singing is "very therapeutic" for Yue, as it helps her feel "very lifted up, very joyful, and very much alive."

Yue also explained that this natural gravitation toward singing can be attributed to her influences growing up:

"I like to sing songs to entertain my relatives. My dad loved music and he always carry me to the recorder, lifted my hand to start the recorder. All these exposure and involvement gave me some influence."

Holds private concerts

Even though her days are numbered, she hopes to "do whatever [she] can" to "inspire people to live well."

And so, given her love for singing, she decided to bring joy to the people around her by holding private concerts within the hospice.

Including a variety of Chinese classics and gospel tunes, these private concerts are held for family, friends, patients and staff.

She has done up to three concerts so far, and her ardent fans have now become friends who look forward to her next concert.

Positive attitude towards life

Despite the hardships that she has been through, Yue maintains a remarkably positive attitude towards life.

"I know my days are numbered, but I just want to do whatever is meaningful and purposeful."

She also shared that her perspective was profoundly changed as a result of being diagnosed with cancer.

It is a humbling experience, she said, and it also showed her the importance of giving back to others:

"I found out in life... the principle is this: To give and to contribute, to be involved is much more joy than to take."

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This is the full video by Honour Singapore: