When Roy Anderson was told that both his legs had to be amputated he feared that he would never again do the things that he had once taken for granted.

For weeks nurses tried to persuade him to overcome his reluctance to use a wheelchair and adapt to life as a double amputee. Instead, he simply spent much of his time languishing in his care-home bed.

Four years ago his recovery was transformed when Magda Pniewska joined Manley Court Nursing Centre in New Cross, southeast London, as a care assistant and took over his case.

Her method was simple yet effective: gentle but firm persuasion combined with compassion and consideration, skills not often found in someone so junior.

Mr Anderson, 49, told of his despair yesterday at discovering that Miss Pniewska, 26, had been killed in the crossfire between two feuding gangs yards from the nursing home where she had changed his life.

“She made me mobile again,” he said, looking at the blue police tarpaulin covering the spot near to some steps where Miss Pniewska was killed. “She helped me become more independent, gain confidence in myself and to do the things most people take for granted. For that I will never forget her.

“She gently made me realise how it was up to me to become mobile again. She encouraged me to get into my wheelchair, to push it myself and get out and about. But, while her aim was to make me independent, she would still push the chair if I wanted her to.”

Just over five years ago Mr Anderson was working for Hammersmith and Fulham Social Services, training disabled people to garden. In an accident he slammed a gardening fork through his own foot. His injuries were complicated because of diabetes and his legs had to be amputated.

“I remember being told that I would lose both my legs. Magda became a friend. She would listen if I had problems and would be caring and offer solutions.

“Nothing got on top of her. If one method didn’t work, she would try another. She would say, ‘We can’t do things this way, but let’s try it another way’. That is the sign of a truly caring person.”

He said that after a year of working as a care assistant she was promoted to activities co-ordinator, organising parties and events for the patients, many of them mentally ill or severely disabled.

“She was the best person I ever met in the nursing home – a wonderful carer. There wasn’t one minute of her time wasted when she worked here. She would go out of her way for anyone who needed her.”

On Wendesday, as patients and staff were told that she had been shot dead, the event that she had organised for that day was cancelled as a mark of respect.

“I was shocked. Everyone was shocked when we discovered what happened,” Mr Anderson added.

Father John Francis, the Anglican priest from All Saints Church in New Cross Gate who performed services at the care home, praised Miss Pniewska for her work at the centre.

“She was very highly regarded. She worked so hard to provide activities and stimulation for the residents. It’s such a sad loss,” he said.

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