Carole has been supporting Light up a Life for 10 years in memory of her Dad, Ken.

Towards the end of his life Ken was suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and receiving care at home from a COPD nurse. When he reached the point where he couldn’t look after himself anymore, Carole and her husband were caring for him at home by themselves. The COPD nurse suggested they contact Nottinghamshire Hospice. Carole shares her experience with us;

“At first someone would come and sit with him once a fortnight to keep him company and talk to him, so we could pop out for a couple of hours. Then when he got worse, we had the nurses come overnight to give me a break so that I could get a restful night’s sleep knowing that there was somebody there. As he got progressively worse during the last week we had somebody for about 3 nights and they were there with us on the last night.

When your loved one is sick like that, all you can do is just be there for them, you can’t make them better. That’s where the nurses coming in was reassuring, having somebody tell you what you’re doing is either right or suggest something else.

The medical knowledge that the nurses had was a big help, but they were also always very personal and not intrusive at all. I will always remember the support, how gentle and caring they were, talking to us and just sitting with us, that was invaluable. The skills that the nurses possess, not just medically, but the personal skills that they all had as well were amazing.

After he passed, we were grateful for the support that we had. It’s invaluable for anybody caring for someone, I had my husband, but for anybody that’s on their own, it must be terrible. It is good to know that there are people you can contact to get help, it’s a frightening thing when you’ve got somebody you love in a situation like that and you want to give them the best.

I support Light up a Life because it gives me a special time to remember them each year, but it also makes you aware of just how many other people there are out there in the same sort of situation.

It’s also our way of giving back, because if we can help somebody else get the same sort of support we did, that’s what matters. When my mum was ill, which was three years earlier, we weren’t aware of anything like that and I think had we been, it would have made it much easier. So I think anything we can do that makes more people aware of the Hospice is important.

And I know my Mum and Dad would have been grateful. They were such giving and special people and they would have done anything for anybody else. I think they would like to think that we can give something back.”

Help others like Carole and Ken

Our care is special and is a lifeline for people caring for loved ones at the end of their life. We offer relief in their darkest moments and help more people die at home surrounded by home comforts and loved ones.

Please consider a donation to our Light Up a Life appeal. Your kindness today will bring light and warmth to a family facing the toughest of times.

We will add your dedication as a star on our virtual ‘Night Sky’, which you can view here.

This year, you can also choose to have a special lantern to light in their memory – request one when you make a dedication on our Night Sky.