'You don’t realise how important it is'

MY NAME is David, and I have donated to St Ann’s for almost 30 years, and I give monthly to St Ann's because I have experienced their incredible care through both my parents who died at the hospice.

- BY DAVID RYDER

My dad was diagnosed with cancer out of the blue in the early 90s, he was only 48 years old.

He had surgery and we thought everything was okay, but it wasn’t. He became ill again in 1996 while my parents were on holiday in Spain, he came back to the UK via an air ambulance and went straight to hospital.

The hospital then said they needed to refer him to St Ann’s. That was the first time I had heard of a hospice, I didn’t realise the severity of his illness until we got to St Ann's.

He was in an awful lot of pain when he arrived, but the staff made the last two weeks of his life as comfortable as anyone could.

They supported my mother, my brother, and I right up to his death and right after it as well. I was blown away with how much they helped my mother, she was still young, under 50. They guided her through it.