The 99-year-old was being closely monitored by medical staff and her family had begun to prepare for the worst.
And in a bid to give her a peaceful send-off, one of Mrs Patton’s friends from the Leslie Groves Day Care Centre came in to the hospital and sang It’s a Long Way to Tipperary for her.
To her daughter Barbara Wilson’s amazement, Mrs Patton started singing along, and she started to regain consciousness.
‘‘It was a miracle, wasn’t it? It was a miracle.
‘‘We thought she was a goner — we did, it was terrible — and then she suddenly perked up.’’
Fast-forward two weeks, and Mrs Patton is out of hospital, having a 100th birthday afternoon tea with her buddies at the Leslie Groves Day Care Centre.
‘‘She nearly didn’t make it,’’ Mrs Wilson said yesterday.
Her official 100th birthday is on May 30, and that would be celebrated with family.
Mrs Wilson said her mother was fiercely independent and still lived at home on her own.
‘‘She’s got limited mobility, but she’s still there.’’
She credited the Leslie Groves social group with giving her a purpose, a reason to continue fighting.
‘‘She loves the group. She goes twice a week.
‘‘It gives people who live on their own an opportunity to come and spend time with one another and do activities like singing.
‘‘And without this group, Mum would not be alive today, I swear to God. She lives for them. They are wonderful to her.’’
When she was 13, she left school and got a job at Cadbury Fry Hudson where she worked for many years.
While she was there, she played for the company’s cricket team on Sundays and became quite a useful batter and bowler.
Later, she worked at Quendon Hospital, in South Dunedin, helping to deliver babies — a job she loved.
She married the late Joseph Patton; they had five children, but she has lost count of how many grandchildren and great grandchildren she has.
In more recent decades she has become a huge fan of rugby and loves watching the All Blacks and the Highlanders on TV.
She calls the players ‘‘my boys’’, and was delighted on her 90th birthday when Kees Meeuws turned up to wish her a happy birthday.
Yesterday, Mrs Patton said her secret to reaching 100 was playing sport, dancing and, of course, singing.
While she was ‘‘not overly fond’’ of birthdays, she was in the mood to celebrate this one — firstly because it was a major milestone, and secondly because she was aware she nearly missed it.
As for the traditional 100th birthday card that would come from King Charles next week, she was her usual forthright self.
‘‘Well, I suppose I’m that near it, I may as well have it.’’
