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Husband inspired to help out at hospice
APPEAL SUPPORT ... St Clares day care volunteer Ian Horner with his wife, Lesley.
THE husband of a St Clare’s Hospice patient has been inspired to become a volunteer after seeing the care his wife was given.
Ian Horner has seen his wife, Lesley, fight for her life against a number of illnesses, and still come out on top.
Now the couple, of Victoria Road West, Hebburn, benefit from the daycare facility at St Clare’s Hospice in Primrose Terrace, Jarrow, and are hoping that people will get behind the Gazette’s campaign to support it.
Mrs Horner, 52, was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour in 2008, and had an operation to have it removed.
Unfortunately, she suffered a post-op bleed, but by the time it was spotted, the damage was done and she had a stroke, which resulted in her slipping into a two-month coma.
The former practice nurse, who worked at Hebburn Health Centre in Campbell Park Road, needed eight months of neuro-rehabilitation, but was left disabled and unable to get around without the use of a wheelchair. Then in 2009, the mum-of-two was struck down with breast cancer, which resulted in her going through chemotherapy and having a mastectomy.
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Mr Horner, 61, said: “That’s when we first really found out about St Clare’s.
“Lesley was in so much pain that she needed to go into the hospice to receive pain management treatment.
“Until then, like most people, we thought the hospice was a one-way street, but then we found out that it’s so much more than that, and they have day care, physiotherapy, clinics, and people you can talk to, and the staff are all brilliant.
“Most of them are volunteers, so you know exactly how much they want to be there.”
Mr Horner, who gave up running his own minibus and taxi business to become his wife’s full-time carer, added: “Lesley really looks forward to her day at St Clare’s.
“It gives her a bit of a break from me, and gives me a chance to do the few things I need to. It’s a brilliant place, what would people do without it?
“The £2m needed is a lot of money to keep it open, but it does an important job and it would be such a shame to see it close.”
The hospice, which provides palliative care to the people of South Tyneside with life-limiting illnesses, has annual running costs of £2m.
It must raise £1.4m of the money itself, but this year it is facing a £50,000 shortfall – and the Gazette is hoping its readers will help raise the funds.
Mr Horner added: “I’m in a band called Twilight Zone, and some of us go down every now and again to play music for the daycare patients, and I’m going to start volunteering as well.
“I’m going to help drive the patients to and from the hospice when they need me.
“St Clare’s is a very important place – it’s fantastic and I love it.
“It was nothing like I imagined when I first went. It’s great for Lesley, and she really looks forward to it every week.
“She gets to have her dinner, play a few games of bingo, and meet up with other patients. It’s brilliant for her.”
Twitter: @ShieldsGazVicki
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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