Julie turned a cancer victim’s sadness to joy

LONELINESS, isolation and having no-one to turn to for help and support can be a terrible burden.

A lady called Sylvia was referred to Age UK Calderdale and Kirklees by her GP as she was undergoing tests for cancer and was very anxious.

She was visited by the charity’s client liaison officer Julie Taylor and what she then discovered shocked her ... but also inspired her to help turn this lady’s life around.

Julie has been nominated by Judith Churley from the charity, who said: “Julie found a very isolated, frightened and vulnerable lady. Sylvia lived by herself with no family close and had no friends. In fact, she had never had any friends so lived totally alone.” It was also a life of squalor. Judith added: “Her house had become very rundown and cluttered with no carpet, ramshackle furniture and she was sleeping on a broken old sofa without bothering to change into any nightclothes. She had minimal food in the cupboards and rarely left the house. All this contributed to her growing feelings of anxiety, shame and fear and she had previously refused to engage with any support services.”

Sylvia had been raised by her single mother and lived a solitary existence, bullied at school, isolated and depressed and her mental health had deteriorated to the point she had been institutionalised for a while.

Sylvia was 44 when her mother – her only companion – died and she was left alone in the world and too afraid to even sleep in her own bedroom.

Julie, 53, of Holmfirth, sorted out a deep clean of Sylvia’s house, organised her to receive benefits so she could get a home help, a bed was set up in the living room for her, the house was decorated, a new carpet fitted with Sylvia getting a comfy new sofa and a DVD player to watch all the old films she loved.

Sylvia was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and Julie formed a genuine friendship with her, along with colleague Gunita Collins, 59, of Dalton, taking her to all her hospital appointments, chemotherapy and visiting her when she was admitted to hospital.

They also gave her a birthday party – the first one she’d ever had in her life – inviting everyone who had been involved in her care.

Sadly Sylvia died last June with Julie and Gunita organising her funeral.

Judith said: “We feel proud that Julie and Gunita were able to make the final year of Sylvia’s life one that was happy and fulfilled. They gave her a warm, clean and comfortable home, filled her life with friendship and laughter and made her feel she was worth it.”