Thank you
“We have so much respect for everything they did for Mum and us,” said Amy. “We want to say a big thank you to them all.
“I didn’t expect the ceremony to be pulled together so quickly. What they did was amazing. One of the nurses even did my hair and make-up and Kadie lent me the veil from her wedding. There were lovely balloons and a big one with feathers inside that Mum really loved. We kept it in the room with her, and we’ve saved some of the feathers.
“For a few days before the ceremony Mum hadn’t been talking. But as I walked in wearing my wedding dress, she spoke to me. Then, after we’d said, ‘I do’, Mum said, ‘I need to sign the register’. Nurse Debbie quickly found something she could sign, and she really believed she had put her signature as a witness on our wedding certificate. That was so important to her.”
Specialist care at home
Lynette died a few days later in her own home, just as she’d wished, with Amy holding her hand. Her death was a huge blow for the couple who, after seven years together, had finally got engaged on holiday in Turkey only weeks earlier.
Sadly the happy announcement Lynette had been longing for was quickly followed by the news that she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
“She was in hospital for a couple of weeks, and we’d started planning the wedding together and set a date, but then it became clear she wasn’t going to make it.”
Lynette was referred to the St Luke’s team at Derriford and it came as a huge relief when they arranged for her to receive specialist care at home.
“She wanted to go home, and we wanted her there too. St Luke’s got it all sorted. I couldn’t fault them; they were amazing.”
Stuart added: “Obviously we wanted to keep Mum’s dignity as much as we could, and we did that with the help of St Luke’s. They were there regularly and always at the end of the phone when we needed them.
“When you are going through hard times like we are, there are always ups and downs. And the downs were made a darn site easier because of St Luke’s help.”