When Pauline was diagnosed with bowel cancer it was her wish to spend her final days at North London Hospice, where she knew she would receive specialist end-of-life care and her family would be supported.
“Mum’s wish was to die in the hospice and when a place became available, our GP recommended that we take it. We were so glad we did,” says Pauline’s daughter Catherine.
“The doctors and nurses managed mum’s pain and sickness so well. She was dying, but it was in the most comfortable and pain free way it possibly could have happened.
“I have two boys, who were aged five and three, and they were always glad to visit mum with me. Everyone who visited mum at the hospice was surprised….it wasn’t a dreary sad place, but full of life. It sounds strange but it was a pleasure to spend time there, as much as it could be. I’m so glad we had the support of the hospice. Their services were invaluable.”
“The care we received was all free of charge and It’s hard to believe that hospices are charities that have to fundraise from their communities to provide palliative support.”
Pauline was a regular participant in our flagship annual fundraiser Big Fun Walk and Catherine, her family and Pauline’s friends have twice taken part in the walk in her memory, before in October 2022 Catherine ran the London Marathon, raising a fantastic £3,500 for future patient care at North London Hospice.
“The hospice had been so good to me that I wanted to give something back. Mum loved the Big Fun Walk, so we did the virtual walk in 2020 with some of her friends and I did the traditional one when it returned this year. It was lovely to do something I know mum had enjoyed.”
