A CRUSADE OF CARING

THE GIFT OF DIGNITY

A BARWON Heads grandmother is on a mission to raise awareness and funds for local palliative care services after the death of her adult daughter.

Lorna Murgatroyd, a mum of one, died at home last month aged 40, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer last year.

Ms Murgatroyd was supported by the Bellarine Community Health palliative care and community nursing team, and her mother, Nicola Stuart, wants people to know palliative care is not only for the elderly.

“For Lorna, staying home was everything, from the moment she was diagnosed she said she wanted to stay at home,” Mrs Stuart, 62, said.

“Particularly towards the end when she had to go to hospital during COVID-19, it was soul destroying. She was desperate to be at home, and without the palliative care team we would never have managed it.

“When Lorna was first diagnosed, the palliative care team were there to help us navigate our way through the whole trauma. No one is really prepared for the onslaught of information you receive from the medical teams when someone is first diagnosed with a life ending illness.”

She said the team looked after everyone and their greatest gift was that Ms Murgatroyd could die with dignity, surrounded by family.

“We would all be around her, she was always involved in things, she never felt like she was on the sidelines, her friends could come and see her, and she loved that, and that was important to her, she didn’t want to be seen as someone who was dying,” she said.

Mrs Stuart has reached out to family and her late daughter’s friends, many of whom lived internationally, to raise funds for the BCH palliative care team. So far, they have raised more than $12,000 to help buy equipment and medical supplies.

“Medical supplies, dressings, they’re not something that is covered by Medicare when you are not in the hospital,” she said.

“Equipment like special beds, toilet frames, wheelchairs all cost money. If the palliative care team have these things available to loan out, it takes a huge amount of the pressure off the patient’s family.”

While Bellarine Community Health does receive federal and state funding, chief executive Shane Dawson said additional funds enhanced the organisation’s ability to support people in the community.

For more information and to donate to the Bellarine Community Health palliative care team, visit bch.org.au/ donate