The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Family’s support for Thorpe Hall hospice
Sahara trek part of family’s support for hospice team
Two sons have completed a tenday Sahara trek to raise thousands of pounds for Thorpe Hall Hospice in memory of their father.
Simon and Nigel King have raised more than £ 5,000 in memory of their father Peter.
The Peterborough hospice is currently appealing for people’s memories of Thorpe Hall from its days as a maternity unit through to its time as the region’s hospice, run by Sue Ryder Care.
Simon and Nigel’s mother Rosie has supported this drive and has spoken about her husband’s time at the hospice.
She told the Peterborough Telegraph: “It means a huge amount to us – we have lived in the area for almost 30 years and had driven into Peterborough looking at the lovely building in the beautiful grounds, without much of a thought about what happened there – it was a hospice and I had never been inside one. But in a few weeks we all dis- covered what a special place it was.
“My husband Peter had an amazingly positive attitude to life, an incredible sense of humour and filled every minute of every day, but three years previously he had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma which had spread to his lymph system.
“He had been operated on four times and had been on various trials at Addenbrookes – they tried everything. But sadly all the treatment had failed and we had to make the most of his short time left. We had fantastic support from our GP, the Macmillan and the district nurses and I had managed to care for him at home for quite some time but one morning in March last year things changed dramatically.
“The district nurse came straight away and after making Peter more comfortable asked if we had thought about Thorpe Hall Hospice.
“Well, a couple of phone calls later, I was on my way there as we were very fortunate to given a place for Peter – that very same morning.
“From the minute I pushed him through the door in his wheel chair we were treated to the most out standing nursing
‘ My husband Peter ( pictured above) had an amazingly positive attitude
to life.’
Rosie King
care and to all the support we could possibly want – not just for Peter but for all the family and many friends who came to see him in his last few weeks.
“This took all the worry away from me and our two sons as we knew that he was safe and being looked after by such fantastic doctors, nursing staff and auxiliaries. Everyone was amazing.
“It wasn’t like being in hospital – it was such a special feeling from the minute we walked in reception to getting up to the ward - we were welcomed at any time, could stay as long as we wanted to and nothing was too much trouble for them. They had time for all of us – day or night - we could phone 24/ 7 – there was always someone to speak to. And during the night that was very important, especially for Peter, they sat with him for hours when he was frightened and I wasn’t there.
“It truly i s an amazing place and how much it helped us in Peter’s last few weeks and when my sons realised what special care their dad was getting they signed up straight away to trek the Sahara for ten days in October last year.
“They could see that their dad was now safe and being cared for by very special people. The boys were asked to raise a minimum of £ 5,000 betweent hem. I am delighted to say that they achieved 115 per cent of their target (£ 5, 780) and with gift aid that will be considerably more.
“Thorpe Hallis amazing. It is somewhere special as they really do make every minute count.”