Two months ago, my Mum found out that Ella, a good friend and colleague of 20 years, had cancer and was in a hospice, some considerable distance away from our home. Mum doesn’t enjoy good health and the thought of going to visit Ella was very daunting, not only because of the fact that her friend was very ill, but also because Mum was in constant, severe pain at the time.
Anyway, Mum accepted that, although she was in a bad way, Ella was somewhere even worse and I took her down there to visit. I wasn’t going to go into the room, out of respect for Ella, who was feeling bad about the fact that she’d lost her hair and so on. As it happened, I did see her briefly and it just broke my heart. It was pitiful to see a woman who had been so vibrant, full of life, bubbly and outgoing in such a sad state and it still makes me cry to think about it. Unfortunately, Ella passed away 10 days after Mum went to see her.
I resolved the day of our visit to devote some time and effort to raising money for the hospice where Ella spent the last couple of months of her life. It is also the hospice where Dr Who actor David Tennant’s Mum Helen McDonald died and it provides much needed comfort not only to the victims of cancer, but their families too.
You can help too by shopping here:
If you would like to make a donation directly, you can send a cheque, made payable to ACCORD Hospice, to:
ACCORD Hospice
Hawkhead Road
Paisley
PA2 7BL
