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Lynsey’s Story

‘You treated us like Family’

“Kindness is having the ability to speak with love, listen with patience and act with compassion” RAKtivist.

Whoever spoke these words is a stranger to me. For what reason they were spoken no one can say. But I find myself grateful to a stranger for giving me the words to express how I feel about the staff and volunteers at Hospice of the Valleys.

They came to us at our most difficult time when my mother had been diagnosed with cancer.

Kindness, patience and compassion was in abundance along with an expert duty of care and a gentle and professional demeanour towards tasks that needed to be done.

They came to us at all hours of the day and night giving us the help and support we needed and putting our minds at rest knowing my mother was in good hands.

Jonathan, from the Family Support team, supported me in a way that no one else has ever done, and our chats together helped me overcome some anxieties and come to terms with my mother’s passing. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions we spoke outside under a shelter at the Hospice and his calming words seemed to blend with the scenery. The hills, the trees, and the leaves seemed to rustle and speak in calming whispers.

The Hospice refused to let the pandemic hinder either treatment or care and whenever new restrictions or regulations threatened them in carrying out their duties, they found a way around it. Nurses and carers still came, and we slept at night because they continued to provide the support we needed.

The staff and volunteers at the Hospice were once strangers to us, but they treated us like their family.

Written by Lynsey Wheeler on behalf of her late mother Ann Wheeler, her father Brian Wheeler and sister Catherine Wheeler