Mick's appeal for a Hospice nurse
on 15 September 2010
on 15 September 2010
Please help Mick to raise £30,000 for a Hospice nurse
Click here to see the film of Mick's appeal from the Hospice (on Youtube)
My name is Mick and I’m fifty-four years old. I have been married to my wife Sue for thirty-one years and we have three children. I had a great life – a wonderful family, friends and a job as a London Black cab driver.
Life could not have been better. Then one day I was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. The doctor gave me 1-3 years to live and suggested I should leave work, travel the world and do what I'd always wanted.
Sue and I did not talk much on the car journey home; we just tried to keep our spirits up. Once inside the house, we put our arms around each other for support and cried. After a while, we thought the bad bit was over. Then, when we thought about how to tell our children, we fell apart again.
The chance to go to Greenwich & Bexley Cottage Hospice was offered to me, but I declined. I thought I could do this alone. Big mistake!
At the Hospice, the staff and volunteers put me at ease straight away. A typical day starts with nurses getting me up to wash and dress me. I have no use of my arms so throughout the day I'm dependent on these nurses for my breakfast, lunch and dinner and trips to the bathroom. Without their help I could not survive.
I feel I owe it to my wife and family, and all the staff at the Hospice to carry on making the most of what I have. The level of care, support and friendship I receive at the Hospice is magnificent and I've made many friends from all walks of life. I'm proud to be here. If I had to say thank you to all the staff and volunteers so close to my heart a thousand times it would not be enough. I am so lucky and grateful to have met each of them and will always be in their debt.
This is why I wanted to launch my own appeal, to raise £30,000 to help fund a nurse for the Hospice. The Hospice nurses are talented and dedicated, they work unsociable hours but are always professional and sincere. All the care the Hospice provides is completely free of charge and yet they have to raise most of their funding from local people – people like you and me.
Please support my appeal and donate what you can, your donation will help to fund a very special nurse to care for more local people with a diagnosis like mine.
With thanks and best wishes
Mick Gordelier
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