The 59 year old from Bradfield, Manningtree, was living with an aggressive lung cancer and after his symptoms worsened and he couldn’t sit still or sleep with the pain, his daughter, Vicky, and niece, Chloe, phoned SinglePoint for the first time. David was admitted to the Hospice’s Specialist Palliative Care Virtual Ward and visited at home by Dr Ramesh, who arranged a bed for David on the inpatient unit to try to figure out how to manage the pain.

From his bed overlooking the garden, David shared his experience of the Hospice:

What I've experienced through here, these people bringing me back, literally dragging me back, reassuring me that nobody's here to hurt me, they’re here to help me. I can hear myself now, I couldn't hear myself before, I'd lost my whole identity. My voice is still not me, but I can hear myself and it's all thanks to these people in here, finding me, getting me, dragging me back out.

I've always taught my son and daughter to show emotion, to feel emotion, to let emotion out, but I've never done it for myself and it's happening now. I wish I'd done it sooner, I wish I'd realised it sooner, but I want to say I'm becoming more human. Even though it's near the end, I'm becoming more human. I've found a new faith in God and putting my trust in something else rather than having to battle it all through myself. I have been looking for him for quite some time and I found him about two years ago. We moved into the village, Bradfield, where I live now, and I became the bell ringer for the church, obviously I can't do it now, I haven't got the strength, but I became part of the community. That was amazing, being part of that community. It was like, this is what church is, this is what it's supposed to be, and the church community welcomed me with open arms. I've had candles lit all over the world by church patrons who would go on holiday and they send me a little video of the candle being lit for me. That blew my mind, it actually blew my mind, and I love every single one of them for it. Here at the Hospice, I have been speaking with Tim about my faith. He is an amazing man, he's such a calming influence as well, his mannerisms, the way he speaks.

I've got to thank my daughter for being there for me, even when I was thinking she was conspiring against me. I've got to thank my niece for doing the same, looking after me, she's always got my back. 

I can't thank St Helena Hospice enough for finding me and actually spending the time to bring me back. That's the important bit, they spent the time to bring me back. It's a family, to these people, it's not a job, you can see it's not a job to them. It's a way of life and it's a family.  

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