I’ll be doing the Midnight Walk this year to support St Helena in memory of my partner, Viv, who died at the hospice in October last year.

Viv chose to be cared for, and to die, at the hospice. I know her choice was partly to protect me and to make sure that I was looked after too.

I’m so grateful that she had the chance to spend time at the hospice. Right now, there are fewer beds than a year ago and that means fewer patients have the opportunity that we had.

On the day of last year‘s Midnight Walk, Viv was able to come home for a few days to see the cats and have a bit of normality. She was pretty ill by that time and the hospice expertise in pain relief was critical to living as well as she could, for as long as possible.

During an earlier stay, she had recorded a video from her hospice room, which was played on a big screen immediately before the walk started. We were told she got a round of applause.

The last year has been hard with so many memories, happy and sad. I miss her every day. I am certain, though, that her death was as as ‘good’ as it could be; free of pain and in a place she felt safe with me holding her hand. 

Viv and Rachel