Hiking for hospice care

23rd April 2024

Walking in memory

A young family will be walking in the footsteps of their inspirational grandad to raise much-needed funds for St Luke’s.

Grace Morley’s grandad Owen Masters spent 24 hours at our specialist unit at Turnchapel last October, before he died.

In memory of Owen

“His stay was only a short one,” she says, “but during those 24 hours our entire family were blown away by the quality of the care he received.”

From 10 – 14 May, Grace and her husband Daniel will be walking 27 miles a day to complete the 108 miles of the Dartmoor Way, in an effort to raise funds for St Luke’s in memory of Owen, a proud Devonian and lover of the outdoors.

Beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather

Born in South Milton, Owen was an instrumental part of the area, running the Hope Cove village shop, while also working as a Mission Leader for the Council of Europe in The Balkans and Moldova for which he received an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II. As a beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, the whole family were rocked when he became ill.

“St Luke’s were incredible when we needed them the most. Initially St Luke’s nurses visited his home, for which we were so grateful as it was so important to him to not be admitted into hospital,” says Grace.

We didn’t have to worry about a thing

“When the time came, grandad was transferred to St Luke’s by ambulance at about 11pm at night. Despite the unsociable hour, we were so thankful to the Doctor who took the time to discuss grandad’s care and to the nurses who treated him with such dignity. Myself, my dad, my auntie, my nanny and my cousin all attended St Luke’s that night to settle grandad in. Despite taking up the whole of the family room, we never felt a burden.

“Not only was grandad treated brilliantly, my grandmother spent that night with him and was so well looked after. We didn’t have to worry about a thing.

Saying goodbye

“The next morning, we all went back to see him. Again, despite there being 7 of us (including my youngest son, Sebastian who was only 14 months at the time!), we were never made to feel like a burden. We said our goodbyes at lunch time, leaving grandad with dad and said we would be back again tomorrow.

“Sadly, grandad passed away shortly after we left. I returned with my mum and again, the St Luke’s nurses were just incredible. Grandad was treated with such dignity. We were given the privacy we needed, and every step was so well thought out, meaning we had nothing to think about other than grandad and each other.”

Honour his memory

To honour his memory Grace decided to embark on a challenge that she knew he would be approve of.

“Grandad was so proud of his local area so we wanted to fundraise within Devon. Walking is a favourite pastime of ours and this route was recommended to us which sounded perfect! We’ve had a few training walks which our two boys (Robin and Sebastian) and whippet, Fraser have accompanied us on. Having Sebastian with us in the carrier has been great practise for the weight we will have to carry with us! We have lots more training walks planned and can’t wait to keep training and hopefully watch those donations increase.”

Follow Grace’s fundraising here.

Support St Luke’s

However you choose to fundraise, by choosing to support St Luke’s like Grace and her family, you can make it possible for more families to see their loved ones be treated with dignity and in comfort at the end of their lives.

Support their JustGiving page Fundraise for St Luke’s

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