I’m skydiving to raise money for Haven House Hospice - please sponsor me!

Our beautiful, kind, funny and loving son Oscar sadly died three years ago. He was 12 years old and had been diagnosed with Juvenile Huntington’s Disease, an extremely rare degenerative neuromuscular disease, when he was 9.

Oscar spent time in hospital towards the end of his life, but was able to spend his final few weeks in his own bed, in a comfortable and familiar environment, surrounded by family. The Haven House Hospice at Home service made this possible.

The team worked closely with the Paediatric Palliative Care team at GOSH, our local Community Nursing Team and others to co-ordinate Oscar’s care at home. They came every day to manage his medication, which we weren’t able to administer ourselves, and look after his other medical needs. They provided us with emotional and practical support to deal with what was happening to Oscar and the impact of this on our family. They were also there to help after he died.

We also had support from the wonderful specialist Counsellor in Haven House’s Bereavement Team, who helped us to understand and manage our grief, and begin to put our lives back together.

We are eternally grateful for the support that Haven House gave Oscar and our whole family. In addition to these services, Haven House also provide end-of-life care at the hospice, day and overnight care for children with life-limiting or life-threatening illness, and a range of play, support and therapeutic services.

Haven House need to raise £6m every year to fund the amazing work they do. I’m skydiving to help contribute to this, and in loving memory of our Oscar.