Mary Seacole

Mary Seacole was a Jamaican-born nurse, healer, and entrepreneur of African and Scottish descent whose contributions to healthcare were long overlooked due to racism and colonial exclusion. Trained in traditional Caribbean and Western medical practices, she devoted her life to caring for the sick and injured across the Caribbean, Central America, and Europe.

During the Crimean War, Seacole was denied formal roles within British nursing institutions because she was a Black woman. Undeterred, she funded and established the British Hotel near the battlefield, where she provided food, medicine, and emotional support to wounded soldiers. She was known not only for treating physical injuries, but for offering comfort, reassurance, and dignity to those experiencing trauma and despair.

Long before we had words like “trauma-informed care,” Mary Seacole was already practicing it – through presence, courage, and compassion. Her work recognized that healing involved presence, compassion, and emotional steadiness as much as clinical skill.

Today, Mary Seacole is remembered as a pioneer in nursing and a powerful example of Black women creating systems of care when excluded from formal recognition. Her legacy continues to inspire conversations about equity in healthcare, invisible caregiving labour, and the importance of honoring lived experience as knowledge.

Her work reminds us that healing has always been more than medicine.

It has always been PRESENCE. Always offer your gift of presence rather than rush the conversation or counseling sessions.

Every act of care matters. Every story deserves to be seen.

At Peramind, we recognize this lineage of care where lived experience, compassion, and community hold real power.

In the spirit of Peramind’s Our Story, we invite you to nominate someone who has shaped your understanding of care, whether their work is visible or often goes unnoticed. This is a chance to honor those who have held space for you, supported your wellbeing, or quietly ensured others could thrive.

Click here to nominate your hero: Submit your Hero