Background
Helen was born in Turbot Township, Milton, in central Pennsylvania to Ambrose and Adda Dunkle Fairchild in 1885.
Helen was born in Turbot Township, Milton, in central Pennsylvania to Ambrose and Adda Dunkle Fairchild in 1885.
In 1913, Fairchild graduated from Pennsylvania Hospital and worked as a nurse
She was the fourth of seven children and worked on the family farm in her earlier years. After the United States joined World War I, Fairchild and 63 other nurses from the hospital volunteered for the American Expeditionary Forces in May 1917. After arriving in France, Fairchild volunteered for front-line duty at casualty clearing station #4 at the Third Battle of Ypres on July 22, 1917, where she was exposed to heavy shelling including the use of mustard gas.
She served as a combat nurse during the Third Battle of Ypres.
Fairchild had a medical history of abdominal pain, which worsened after her combat experience. By Christmas 1917 she was vomiting after every meal.
X-rays revealed that a large gastric ulcer was obstructing her pylorus. She underwent surgery for the ulcer on January 13, 1918.
At first she recovered well but then lapsed into a coma and died five days later.
The post-mortem examination suggested that she died as a result of hepatic complications from the chloroform used as the anesthesia during her operation, possibly worsened by her previous exposure to mustard gas. She was buried with full military honours in a cemetery in LeTreport and later shifted to Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in Bony, France.