When Dawn was diagnosed with cancer, which was spotted during a routine optician appointment, and later after she was cared for by the hospice, Pier to Pier has taken on a personal meaning for her husband, Brian. Dawn was supported at home through SinglePoint and a clinical nurse specialist, and later she was admitted to the hospice inpatient unit. Brian shares their story…

We had supported St Helena Hospice by taking part in Pier to Pier walk since it started in 2011, usually walking with friends just to raise money for our local hospice. We thought it was a good cause to support and we’d raise some sponsorship and would round it up to the next £100. I never thought my wife would end up as a hospice patient. Dawn died at the Hospice in March 2022, we would have been married 52 years in the December of that year, so that has made doing the walk every year since, even more important. I do it for the Hospice, but also for Dawn.

We have a friend who is a cancer nurse and she said about us contacting SinglePoint at St Helena Hospice. Initially when she said about the Hospice, I thought, well that's where people go to die, not really understanding anything about it. She told us about SinglePoint where you can call one number, if you have any problems just ring them and they could sort things out. We, the three of us, sat and spoke about it and I phoned. From then, all the care came through SinglePoint, they sent nurses and carers and could sort things out with the GP surgery.

After a little while, the nurse said to Dawn about maybe going to the Hospice, immediately I said that she's not at the end of her life yet, but she said it would be helpful to have some respite not only for Dawn, but also for me. 

They looked after her really well. Nothing was too much trouble. The care that she got was marvellous, I couldn't wish for better treatment, they really were amazing. She only had to ring the bell, or we did if we were worried, and somebody was immediately there. They had all the time for her, like she was the only one there. And they looked after me and my daughter, I had a few complementary treatments and massages, they looked after us and kept us informed. 

We went up to see her on the last day and we just knew she was going to die. We were both with her. It was a really strange feeling of relief for Dawn because she was no longer in pain. 

Couldn't have wished for her to be in a better place or have better care, it really was amazing. We’d sit there with her and just hold her hand. She couldn't speak but occasionally she would say something. The whole family are big Elvis fans and my daughter did a playlist of Elvis songs for her because we heard people say that music really helps. My daughter would go up with this playlist and she'd say ‘right, mum, what do you want today, Young Elvis or Vegas Elvis?’ And she’d say ‘Young’ or ‘Vegas’. Although you couldn't have a conversation with her, she knew what she wanted. 

I didn't have to do anything once she was at the Hospice because I knew how well she was being looked after. I just think it's the ultimate place if you're dying. If I need to be cared for in the future, then it is certainly somewhere I would like to be knowing how much they looked after her, how well they looked after her and how caring, how thoughtful, how loving they were.  

Story and images may not be published elsewhere without express permission from St Helena Hospice.