Valerie Ann Taylor | |
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| Born | 8 February 1944 |
| Citizenship |
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| Known for | Founder of Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed |
| Parents |
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| Awards | full list |
Valerie Ann Taylor, OBE (born 8 February 1944) is a British-Bangladeshi physiotherapist, social worker and philanthropist. [1] She is the founder of Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Savar, Dhaka District. [2] Dubbed the Mother Teresa of Bangladesh, [3] she was awarded the 2004 Independence Day Award by the Government of Bangladesh for her public service. [4] In 1998, she was granted Bangladeshi citizenship by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. [1]
Taylor was born in Kent, England to Marie Taylor and William Taylor. [5] She grew up living close to National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England. [6]
In 1969, Taylor arrived in Bangladesh, under contract for 15 months, with the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) to work as a physiotherapist at Christian Hospital, Chandraghona, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. [1] She established the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in 1979. [5] At the start of her career, she ran CRP with four patients in an abandoned warehouse of the Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital. Later, CRP grew to include a 100-bed hospital. [7]
Taylor is a legal guardian to two girls with disabilities. [5]