Life, love, hope, death
DAUGHTER IS INSPIRED BY BRAVE CANCER SUFFERER’S LOVE FOR LIFE
A DOTING daughter has paid tribute to the mother who loved life so much she filled her final weeks with champagne and an early Christmas in a hospice.
In August last year we told the story of cancer patient Julie Roberts as she prepared to return home with her daughter Amber.
The mum-of-three had been admitted to St Oswald’s Hospice a month earlier for what she thought would be end-of-life care, but said the staff there had helped her realise “I’m just not ready to die yet”.
Julie, from Gosforth, Newcastle, told the Chronicle: “I know I can’t hope for a long life but I can choose to enjoy life,” and spoke of her dreams of living to see her youngest daughter Mille’s graduation from Newcastle University in two years’ time.
But tragically Julie’s condition started to deteriorate around a month later and she eventually returned to the hospice, where she died on December 3 at the age of 54.
Now, Amber has spoken of her mum’s determination to “get the best out of life” even when she knew it was coming to an end.
“Anybody who knew her would say she lived life to the fullest,” said Amber, 24.
“That’s what we were known for in the hospice – she would have glasses of champagne and only wear nice silky underwear.”
Amber has now completed a sponsored walk to raise funds for St Oswald’s Hospice to give back to the charity that cared for her mum.
Julie was 45 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a lumpectomy.
But the cancer later spread to her bones, liver and lungs, and in 2011 doctors told her it was incurable.
At her second visit to St Oswald’s Day Hospice in Gosforth in July 2017, nurses noticed a decline in Julie’s health and organised a bed for her on the hospice’s inpatient unit. Julie told us: “At that stage I thought I was
going in there for end-of-life care.
“But the staff there just scooped me up and saved me – I realised that you can either curl up and die or you can get on with it, and I’m just not ready to die yet. Due to my condition worsening, I’m not able to walk so I’ll be going home this week in a wheelchair but I’m so pleased to be going home. I didn’t think I ever would.”
Julie did enjoy several months at home with Amber, but required increasing levels of care from September onwards. Amber said: “Her condition deteriorated quite quickly and eventually she became more bedbound so we decided she should go back into the hospice in late November.
“We decided to have an early Christmas so we had the room decorated and tried to make everything festive.
“One day we were talking about a holiday, and she was sort of holding on to me. I said to her: ‘We had a nice time didn’t we?.’ That was the last conversation we had that I could tell she understood and was conscious.”
After around a week in St Oswald’s, Julie passed away on December 3.
Since then Amber has become involved with a programme run by the Prince’s Trust in collaboration with Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Service.
Along with colleagues, she completed a seven-mile walk on April 5 – a circular route from North Shields walking via Tynemouth, Cullercoats, Whitley Bay and back to North Shields Fish Quay – in memory of her mum and to raise funds for the hospice. She said: “I really enjoyed the walk, and knowing that I was helping such a deserving charity while doing it made it even more worthwhile.”
Amber and her team continue to raise money for St Oswald’s Hospice. To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/stew-leader