Martin Maxwell passed away at the Marie Curie hospice on 31 Jan 2012, aged 30. 

He was the eldest of four, he was all-powerful and all-knowing. The kindest and gentlest of men, he took care of us growing up, protective and strong, looming over all of us at 6ft4 - he was even too big for the hospital beds! He was a sports enthusiast and usually the loudest voice of cheers or jeers that could be heard from the other room when football was on. Martin loved to play his guitar and making us laugh and we miss him every day. 

Martin was diagnosed with a brain tumour in Jan 2011, aged 29, and after four operations and 30 sessions of grueling radiotherapy, he eventually became weaker and weaker until, as a family, we could no longer meet the needs of his care at home and he was admitted to the Marie Curie Hospice in Belfast where he hung on and fought the good fight for two months before it eventually took his life. We are so thankful to Marie Curie and the nurses at Kensington Road for looking after Martin with such care and compassion. 

£20 is the cost of just one hour of care at a Marie Curie Hospice and while many of us are pulling on our pyjamas at 10pm, Marie Curie nurses are putting on their coats to make home visits or starting a night shift caring for terminally ill patients requiring 24hr care and providing support to the families of terminally ill patients in what can only be described as the darkest of hours.

Walk Ten is an organised sponsorship fundraising event where families will walk 10k around the Stormont grounds. This is not a huge physical feat but more a gesture of support for the incredible work these nurses do every day and an opportunity to remember lost loved ones. 

The smallest of donations will make such an impact and your help in keeping the work of these nurses carry on is so important. 

Thank you,

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