A Bridge of Allan dad shared his experience of the death of his wife aged just 39 in Strathcarron Hospice as part of Demystifying Death Week.
Rupert Pigot wants to share his story to help dispel the common beliefs about Hospices following the care and support his family received.
Jo was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2018 and despite treatment sadly had to be admitted to Strathcarron Hospice in 2019 where she died.
The couple had two children Sam (5) and Charlotte (8), with Sam only weeks from starting primary one at school when his mum died.
Rupert said: “Jo had developed a cough and was bringing up blood and had been to the GP a couple of times. She went to get scans and when we realised there was something seriously wrong, that was shocking to deal with.
“The diagnosis was very hard to take. Jo really wanted to see her children grow up. There was a course of treatment she had to go through and the healthcare professionals were very positive but there was a caveat it might not work. Jo was a very positive person and she didn’t want to consider end of life care.
“In 2018, doctors told us they had exhausted all the options. Just after New Year, the day before Sam’s birthday, they told us it was just a matter of months.
“Jo was so strong. The hospital visits increased and eventually she was admitted to the hospital and then we got the call to say it was end of life care that was required. She was reluctant at first and the finality of it all was hard to deal with.
“There were discussions about Strathcarron Hospice and the main thing was that she would be comfortable there. That was the main thing – about helping her deal with those last few moments.
“We both had the impression end of life care was for older people. It was hard for her to accept that was the best place for her.
“When she got there she was given a room and the nurses were wonderful. It is a beautiful setting. She was there for just over a week and they helped her acclimatise to what she needed. The nurses were wonderful at the pain management.
“The staff were wonderful at supporting us all. It was a hard time but they made it as good as it could be for us. I can’t thank everyone there enough, they had such a great way of looking after her.”
Strathcarron Hospice joined Hospice UK and people across the UK to support Dying Matters Awareness Week /Demystifying Death Week (Monday 5th-Sunday 11th May).
The week encouraged all communities to get talking about death and dying in whatever way, shape or form works for them.
Strathcarron Hospice needs £16,637 daily to provide specialist palliative care and end of life services to those they support. With only around one third of the Hospice funding coming from the NHS, the rest has to be raised through donations and fundraising.
Watch the video of Rupert telling his story on our Bereavement Hub Rupert’s Story | Strathcarron Hospice
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