Me and my sister Kate are doing the 13 mile Midnight Walk to raise funds for the fantastic St Luke's Cheshire Hospice!

On 28th December 2016 our amazing and beautiful mum was diagnosed with brain cancer, which on 8th February was confirmed to be a grade 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme brain tumour. Mum was only 55 so of course this came as a HUGE devastating shock to us all when she was given a short 12 months to live.

Instantly, Mum took all of this in her stride, she smashed her chemotherapy and radiotherapy, she made the most of every day and she still smiled. Never expressing to me and my two sisters that she was afraid or upset. She was so so brave!

On 23rd March Mum arrived at St Luke's Hospice after becoming more poorly following treatment. Mum was relieved, happy and content knowing that she could receive the care she needed so much, in such a calm and homely environment. The nurses at St Luke's made the hardest time of our lives that little bit nicer with a hug, cake and so much compassion.

Mum spent only a week at St Luke's before she sadly passed away on 31st March just three months after diagnosis, surrounded by her family. The nurses allowed us to be with mum for every minute of every day, even letting Ralph (mums baby/cockapoo) come in to visit!!!

We as a family cannot thank the nurses at St Luke's enough and the work that they do is simply priceless. Words really cannot describe how much we value the care delivered to our amazing, gorgeous mama !!!

Jo, one of the wonderful nurses stood by us throughout our journey. She took care of our whole family. She was so honest and suggested I abandoned my plan to go back to Leeds to finish my nursing placement and stayed with mum as she believed they were her last days, she was right. She cared for Kate, who was heavily pregnant with her gorgeous daughter Ava, persuading her to have a lie down and get comfy in one of the vacant beds. Jo allowed Amy to spend time with mum alone by taking Ella into the conservatory and playing in the dolls house with her. This enabled to Ella to create lovely memories of the last time she saw her Nana

They are simply amazing x

Since 1988, St Luke’s has been providing palliative care to local people, supporting them in ways which go beyond the scope and funding of the NHS. Last year we supported over 1,000 local people with a huge range of support from end of life care on our ward to supporting carers, and from helping children cope with grief to helping patients return to work after an illness.We are a charity and provide all our care for free, so we rely on the generosity and commitment of our supporters to raise more than 80% of our costs.