Always Caring: Peggy’s story

As a member of Pilgrims Hospices Always Caring, Peggy Davis supports the charity with a monthly donation, after the care and support she and her sister, Val, received.


In December 2020, my sister, Val, was cared for at the Canterbury hospice for her final week. Near the end of her life, she was in quite a lot of pain, and a district nurse suggested that Pilgrims get involved to help.

I wanted to keep caring for her myself at home, but when I could no longer help with her pain, she went into the hospice.

In my pride, I thought that I was the only one who could really care for her. But when she went into the hospice, I was truly humbled to see the love and care that everyone there showed to Val. They really went the extra mile to look after her, and to make sure I was alright as well. You often hear how wonderful hospices can be, but until you get there and experience it you don’t know just how wonderful it is. It had such a happy atmosphere whenever I visited, which surprised me as I thought that it would be very quiet and sombre, but it was always very full of life.

I will never ever forget the love and kindness shown to Val, from the little things like massaging her feet, to the lovely chats, and the wonderful nursing.

Peggy

The first few days I visited each morning, but the last few days of Val’s life I was able to stay, and I never felt a pressure to leave. One evening I said to Val it was my time to go home, but she didn’t want me to, so the staff helped make me comfortable in an armchair, and allowed me to stay. They’d always said to me that if they thought Val would die in the night, they would let me know so I could come and we could spend her last hours together.

I will never ever forget the love and kindness shown to Val, from the little things like massaging her feet, to the lovely chats, and the wonderful nursing. Val didn’t sleep very well in that last week, and while they must have been very busy, the nurses would spend time sitting and talking with her about her life; she was a very private person, but they gave her that time.

I will always fully support Pilgrims as much as I can, and when I got Pilgrims Matters and saw that I could support the hospice with a monthly donation, it just felt like the natural thing for me to do.

I think it’s such a lovely thing to do, and a way for me to support the place that gave my sister such wonderful love and care at the end of her life.

None of us know when we might need hospice care, but with your support we can continue to be here for local people when they need us most.

By giving regularly to Pilgrims Hospices you can help us be here, Always Caring for our patients and their families.

Join Pilgrims Hospices Always Caring support club today.


Each year, Pilgrims Hospices give care and comfort to thousands of people in east Kent who are coming to terms with an illness that sadly cannot be cured. The charity support patients to live life as well as possible until the very end, free from pain and distress.