Shirley, Terry and Darren’s story
Shirley, Terry, and Darren are more than just colleagues working in the same office at Cochlear Europe. They share the same story of a loved one being cared for by Woking & Sam Beare Hospice. An experience that brought them together in their desire to do something amazing to give a little back.
Shirley, thought that the perfect tribute to her husband, Peter, would be to do something that was on her bucket list. Facing her fear of heights head on, she signed up for a 15,000 ft skydive! Knowing they couldn’t let Shirley go through this alone, Terry and Darren quickly got on board with the idea, also signing up five other colleagues.
Peter had Motor Neurone Disease (MND), and although initially looked after at home by the Community Nurse Specialist team from the Hospice, his condition rapidly deteriorated. As he was admitted to the Hospice, the wonderful staff looked after Shirley as well as Peter. A difficult time was made a little more bearable with the help of the complementary therapies and counselling that Shirley was able to benefit from.
One of her fondest memories is of them celebrating their wedding anniversary together in Peter’s room as the staff helped to make it special for them with cards and gifts
Like Peter, Terry’s dad, Terry Snr, also had MND. Terry remembers the Hospice being such a welcoming place when his dad was here and ‘being greeted with welcoming smiles at all times. He very much appreciated the fact that Terry Snr’s wife was able to stay at the Hospice with his dad to allow them to spend precious time together and for other family members to come and visit at any time too.
There is so much the Hospice can help with that people don’t know about. They can arrange hospital beds for home, wheelchairs, and things that will make life at home just a little bit easier for the patient and their carers. Also, they are juts a phone call away if you ever need them.
“Darren also has the support of the Hospice for himself and his Mum, Jane, who has been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer which has metastasised to her spine, sacrum, and liver and is currently under the care of the palliative care team.” – Shirley
Cochlear Europe showed their support for their team of daredevils by allowing them to use their premises for fundraisers such as ‘guess the sweets in the jar’ and a few cake sales, which turned out to be very popular. The most successful initiative, however, was the staff car wash. Picking up a sponge in their lunch hour, the team washed cars outside the office. The event was so popular that they held it a total of eight times. They had great fun as the weather was so hot at the time and the hoses came in very handy to soak each other!
Following three unsuccessful attempts to take to the sky due to bad weather, Shirley, Terry, and Darren finally got the chance to fly up to 15,000 ft. Shirley remembers being tightly held to her tandem professional as she jumped screaming from the plane.
60 seconds is a long time to freefall, but once that parachute opens it is very calm and quiet up there. Terry on the other hand, wanted to experience fast spins with his instructor and loved it.
Shirley, Terry, and Darren raised a fantastic total of £6000 for the Hospice.
