Lorraine Byers spent nearly three weeks at the hospice before she died in April 2025. Here, her family – husband, David, daughter Michele, and sons Kevin, David and Michael – share more about the care that led to their deep-rooted connection with St Wilfrid’s.

If you met Mum in her final weeks, she would have been holding Freddy’s Teddy and listening to his heartbeat. She was devastated she wouldn’t live to meet her unborn great-grandson, Freddy, so when we went for a scan, we asked for a recording of his heartbeat and put it in a teddy. When you pressed the teddy’s heart, it played Freddy’s heartbeat. We laid it on Mum’s coffin. She missed his birth by a month.

Mum was very big on family, and she was Queen of the pack. She kept everyone together and everyone rotated around her. So, it was a shock when she got ill. It started with bowel cancer, and after treatment and a period of remission during the next five years, it spread to her liver, brain and other places. Despite complications, she put up a good fight, but said she hoped that when the time came, she could be at St Wilfrid’s. She knew of the hospice after our Nan died at the original site in Mill Gap Road.

A few months before she died, Mum had an appointment with one of the hospice nurses to have a chat and look around. She didn’t need their care at that point but as time went on, she got poorlier and was eventually admitted to St Wilfrid’s for end of life care.

The moment she arrived it was like a weight lifted off Mum’s shoulders. She was so happy to be there, and they took the fear and dread away. And it was brilliant for us as a family because one of us could be there 24/7. Mum was very comfortable and happy, and that made everything much easier for everyone. Every time we went to the hospice, we created nice memories. It was actually quite a fun last few weeks and rather than being a tragic time, Mum was smiling. We couldn’t have asked for more.

We wouldn’t have coped if Mum was at home. The hospice staff couldn’t do enough, and the nurses were like friends by the end. And the family felt like we were getting looked after as much as Mum was. Staff and volunteers always gave us a good welcome and checked in on us; they brought us tea and had time for a chat. It was just the perfect place to be.

During her stay, Mum enjoyed foot massages, a jacuzzi bath, and staff even brought in incense and aromatherapy diffusers. Mum never really felt like a patient at St Wilfrid’s, she just felt like she was where she needed to be. She liked the hospice garden, and sometimes we’d relax out there with a coffee. We’ve got a picture of Mum sunbathing on Mother’s Day, and you can see she was letting the sun sink into her, just enjoying the moment.

A few days later, in her last few hours, Mum started to feel pain. The nurses reacted very quickly to soothe her and take her pain away. Soon after, Mum slipped away peacefully surrounded by all her family, just the way she wanted it.

I don’t think we can ever thank the hospice enough because they gave Mum her dying wish to be there. And since then, they’ve continued to help us with counselling support for those of us who have wanted it.

Until you’ve been involved with St Wilfrid’s, you can’t really appreciate what they do. Our family will always have a deep-rooted connection, and we regularly visit for a coffee or lunch, just to feel close to her. Even now, more than a year on, the nurses still remember who Mum was.

As a family, we’ve stayed involved with the hospice community, too, joining in with fundraising events including Rainbow Run, completed by Mum’s daughter-in-law Laura and granddaughter Poppy, and Kevin hopes to do a 100K walk along The Downs in September. We also bought a leaf on the Memory Tree, and last Christmas we put stars on the Lights of Love tree to remember our lovely Mum.

Mum was such a caring, loving person, so it’s no surprise that she once had a job as a senior carer. She was really proud of that, so it’s quite fitting that she got some of that care back at the end. And that’s why we continue to support St Wilfrid’s.

A selection of photos show Lorraine with various members of her family, soaking up the sun in the hospice garden, and baby Freddy, whose heartbeat she treasured.

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