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Testimonials
Testimonials received from families
Galway Hospice receives many letters of appreciation from patients and family members who have experienced the services of Galway Hospice. We are publishing the following extracts for the information and encouragement of potential patients / family members who may be facing the prospect of involving hospice services, and may be unsure or apprehensive about what lies ahead. In cases where the name of patient and sender are identified, written consent has been received.
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"To Breda, Kevin, Martina, Lorraine, Emer and all the Home Care Team.
We want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for all the care and kindness you gave Mam (Nancy Coleman) during her illness. You have been brilliant and we really appreciate all you have done.
It was Mam's wish to stay at home, so thank you for helping us care for her in her own home and for making her wish come true. You are amazing people, doing a wonderful job. Keep up the good work. God bless you all".
Ned Coleman and all the Coleman family, Kylebrack, Loughrea, Co. Galway
Photo shows Nancy Coleman's grandson, Adam Coleman Cunningham, presenting a cheque to Mary Tierney of Galway Hospice, as a token of appreciation from the Coleman family.
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"We the family of the late John Naughton (R.I.P.) namely his wife Brigid and sons Aidan, Joe, David and Sean together with our extended family would like to express our deep gratitude and thanks to all the management and staff of Galway Hospice Foundation for the care, comfort and support offered to John during the time that he spent with you prior to his passing away on 26th November 2009.
I quote a prayer that I heard recently, which immediately reminded me of the Hospice, and it captures perfectly the ethos of what you do:
“It’s the little acts of kindness, and the little acts of love, that make this world a little more like above.”
We simply cannot thank you enough for the dignified and homely atmosphere that the staff of the Hospice create for the people in your care. I avoid referring to the people in your care as patients purely because they are treated more as friends or guests in your fantastic facility. The comfort and facilities available are more akin to what guests would receive in a top class hotel. These thanks extend also to the Home Care team that visited Dad while at home and who were of great help and support.
The tireless efforts made by all staff to see to Dad’s needs are a credit to you and your collective professions. The range of care offered from personal care, medical, social and pastoral, are truly extraordinary and while we would like to have had Dad at home it was a wonderful comfort to us knowing that the level of care he was getting while at Galway Hospice was second to none. To us the most important gift that you so willingly gave to those in your care including Dad was your time and nothing was considered too small if it went in some way towards making him more comfortable. For this we are eternally grateful.
Our experience as visitors to Dad right from the front desk through the various teams including nursing and care teams, the doctors and consultant, pastoral care, social care through to those not directly involved in his care was always courteous and one of welcome and comfort and we were never made feel that we were imposing on your workspace. The information provided on Dad’s condition was always given honestly and in a professional and considerate manner.
We enclose a donation on behalf of the family to Galway Hospice which in some small way expresses our sincere gratitude and will help in some way so that you can continue the wonderful work that you do.
As it would be unfair to single out any one individual person within Hospice for mention given your teamwork and team spirit, we enclose here also a gift which can be raffled amongst the staff. It again is our expression of thanks for those people who through your teamwork, directly or indirectly, contributed to Dad’s care.
We wish all the staff at Galway Hospice every blessing and happiness and want you to know that our lives are richer for having met so many of you in your various roles in caring for John. You have been of great consolation and inspiration to us at a difficult time.
You truly are an exceptional group of people that create a wonderful place of comfort for those who need it. Thank you".
Joe Naughton, Kilkerrin, Ballinasloe (on behalf of Brigid, Aidan, David and Sean Naughton)
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"Thank you to all the staff at the Galway Hospice for the wonderful care and attention given to John Manning during his time at the hospice. He never had anything but praise for all who worked there. John often said that the service there was like a 5-star hotel. I think it was better!" David Manning (nephew), Carlow
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"To all the wonderful staff at the hospice. Thank you for all the time, energy and kindness you all showed towards my father (name) RIP 15th January 2009. We can't thank you all enough for everything that ye all do. You were all so kind to my wonderful father. You all cared for him with such kindness. We as a family were so glad that our father was lucky enough to spend his final days with such dignity. You are all wonderful staff. May you all be blessed for the wonderful work you do".
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“I felt a caring from them, towards us”. Eleanor
“There was a homely atmosphere. I was welcomed. There was loads of empathy. Here were people who were going to get involved, who were going to take on the burden with me. It was really marvellous”. Mary
“They gave us courage to deal with the situation”. Eleanor
“Once you realise there is no cure you’re not going to turn your back and leave the person standing to cope with it as best they can. Hospice turns the whole thing around and makes it into a very positive experience”. Barbara
“It was as much an enriching experience for my mother who was dying as it was for the rest of the family, and I know that, because she actually said it to me two days before she died. She said she wouldn’t have missed the last six weeks for anything, that they were six of the most wonderful weeks of her life. That turns the whole idea of dying and death on its head, which is what Hospice helped us do”. Barbara
Memorial Walk looks to the future and to the past.
One of the most unique, uplifting and rewarding events anywhere on the planet will take place in Galway on Sunday, September 14th.
That’s when the Galway Memorial Walk takes place, and thousands walk, chat, laugh and cry as they make their way from the Claddagh Hall, out along Southpark and the Prom to Blackrock and back again, all in memory of a loved one they have lost.
The fact that the event is in aid of the Galway Hospice – a charity that is there when people truly need comfort the most – is just the icing on the cake.
But this is much more than a six and a half kilometre charity walk; it is a tribute t those we have lost, a chance to share memories of other days and yet to do this in a practical way that benefits the Hospice, where so many of those remembered on the day spent their final months.
The whole thing is the brainchild of Michael Craig and his fundraising team at Galway Hospice, and after two years it has captured the imagination of the participants and the city at large.
This paper is proud to be associated with the event but the real support comes from the thousands of participants who wear a special t-shirt with the name of the person they are walking for emblazoned on it.
Last year was the first year that I’d see the event and two things stopped me in my tracks – the many people I recognized who were participating, and the many names I recognized of people I had known who were now gone.
Some people walked on their own or in couples; some groups numbered 40 or more. But all that mattered is that they were doing their bit for someone they’d once loved, and in doing so they were helping to ease the pain and increase the comfort of someone else in their final days.
The closing date for registering in time to get your personalised t-shirts is August 29 – you can still enter after that but you won’t get the personalised t-shirt. But you must register in order to participate.
Last year’s event was bathed in glorious sunshine and that made the day for all. But even in the rain, you’ll feel the better for taking part.
I am not from Galway and I am not Irish, yet I cherish the work of Galway Hospice. I am a Social Work Professor from Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, and I have had the profound pleasure of working in partnership with Galway Hospice for the past 4 years. During the past ten years or so, I have traveled to the West of Ireland almost every year with 12 of my students to meet with Social Workers and learn about the social service organisations in Ireland, initially with significant involvement of the Health Service Executive. In more recent years, through partnership with Galway Hospice, my students have been able to experience palliative care and end-of -life issues at first hand through the many professionals at Galway Hospice. I have also conducted a trans-national research project involving Galway Hospice and Trillium Woods Hospice in Michigan, exploring the experience of families whose loved ones have received hospice care.
Apart from my direct interest in hospice care through my professional work, I am no stranger to grief and loss. I experienced the deaths of both of my parents within 6 years; both died of cancer. My multiple roles in life - mother, wife, social worker, daughter and friend - made it challenging to negotiate my time and my route through my parents’ experiences of dying and death. Emotionally I longed to focus on the time we had left together to express my love to them through caring for them in all the ways they had cared for me in my youth, ensuring they had good food to promote the energy they needed to survive treatments, assisting them with the tasks of washing, bathing, transportation, the coordination of medications and appointments, keeping them company, and all of the other tasks we do gladly for someone we love when they are so ill.
I also know that the grief and loss accompanying chronic illness isn’t always about death. Sometimes it is also about the physical changes and the effects of the disease on the lifestyle of the person who is ill and those who love them. The feelings of grief occur in response to life altering changes, including seemingly very small losses. The sense of grief can be quite unpredictable. For instance, my father was diagnosed with a brain tumour while sitting in a doctor’s office. Within moments of learning his probable diagnosis - brain cancer - he was told he could no longer drive his car. I remember my deep grief as I considered the loss of my Dad driving his car. I knew what driving meant to him. In his generation, men were the drivers. Dad’s driving kept us safe, warm, and dry. On Saturdays he would wash and vacuum the car to ensure it respected his drive to his church. His driving kept our family from getting lost. Drives with the entire family meant taking a turn sitting next to him, lovingly leaning against him. His relationship with driving played a prominent role in more than 70 of his 84 years of life. As a boy he drove tractors to plough fields and as a young man he remade engines for abandoned car shells to create transportation and adventure out on the country roads. During the Second World War he drove and repaired tanks for combat. Driving was part of his identity and made him an independent man, a husband, and a father; roles of worth. In comparison to the news of a brain tumour, maybe learning he would no longer drive seems insignificant, but I knew that deep down it was hugely significant for both of us. The pain and grief I felt was a signal that my father’s ability to care for me was ending. At the end of the appointment that day, Dad handed me the keys and I drove him to his home in his car.
Sometimes I was tempted to try to keep my emotions tightly controlled so I could steer through the choppy waters of my parents’ dying and death. I wanted to think clearly when the decisions regarding continued care, pain control and end of life were imminent. The urge to stay in a “professional role” was especially tempting because it seemed to offer me a way to delay and hide the losses, the grief, and paralyzing pain I so dreaded. Thankfully, the hospice in my community offered me a way to relax my grip on being in control. Hospice for there for me when I needed it. Similarly, in Galway, the community is so blessed to have a hospice facility on their doorstep.
During one visit to Galway, after an evening of talking to a local resident about his personal experiences with Galway Hospice and his commitment to support their continued efforts, I connected with this wonderful organisation. This connection quickly and seamlessly led me to meeting some of the key staff at the Galway Hospice, including Sean O’Healy, Mari Gallagher, Michael Craig and Breda King. Although I name these few hospice staff, I must quickly state that these are only four of the many gracious and welcoming individuals I have met at Galway Hospice. I am always astounded at the generous gestures of friendship I consistently experience when I visit this organisation. Your friends and neighbours, those who staff Galway Hospice, offer both compassion and empathy, but they also offer concrete help. Walk into the Hospice anyday and you will witness all the ways help is offered, from the individuals just inside the front door who greet, guide and answer questions for visitors, all those who prepare and serve the wonderful food, clean the rooms, develop relationships with the community, care for the building and grounds, counsel ill individuals and their caregivers, and provide tender nursing and medical care to those at home and those who visit or stay in the Hospice. All of them, fellow community members, are Hospice employees or volunteers, committed to bringing comfort to those facing end of life and to supporting families when they are most vulnerable. Your Galway Hospice offers to stand alongside you, care for and support you. Galway has a prize in this caring organisation whose staff and volunteers provide personal and quality attention to you and yours during your times of grief and loss.
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