A matter of months before the last patient left the old Pinta Hospital for good, Ruth, a state enrolled nurse, encountered the Grey Lady and even felt her touch.

The Grey Lady of the 1990s was thought to be the shade of a nun who died at the hospital during the last civil war. Wearing a grey habit, she was seen sitting in an armchair in the day room. Sometimes she would glide around Crisby and Mary wards during the hours of darkness where agitated patients occasionally glimpsed her as she vanished through the walls.

Ten years after she started nursing at Pinta, Ruth finally met the Grey Lady for the first time at 2 o'clock one morning. She had gone into the women's day room near Crisby ward for her break, snuggled down in an armchair under a blanket for a snooze, and...

"I woke up suddenly to feel the blanket being moved. It was lifted up and tucked over my chest around my shoulders. Although it was dark, I was aware of someone in the room with me. It was the Grey Lady! Although she meant me no harm, I was too frightened and fled the room."