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Hospice Stories

Olivia’s story 

Olivia’s story 

Olivia and Dave first met in their early 20s when working together.  They loved travelling and on a trip to the USA in 2015, Dave found the muscular pain he had before leaving the UK wouldn’t shift, and began to get worse.  On returning home he went to his GP and after a series of referrals and a misdiagnosis, he was finally told he had bone cancer in June 2016. Despite 18 months of intensive treatment, the couple were given the devastating news that Dave’s cancer was incurable.   

Olivia and Dave had spoken about getting married and began planning knowing that time might be short. When Dave rapidly deteriorated, they thought it would in fact be impossible. But, with the help of the St Peter & St James Fundraising team, the charity Gift of a Wedding, and the generosity of local suppliers, their wedding took place at the hospice, within 10 days of Dave being admitted. 

Initially heartbroken that they weren’t going to be able to have the wedding they had hoped for, Olivia recalls Dave saying that being at the hospice meant that he could enjoy the day, relaxed and knowing if he needed a break or care it would be available.

” We had everyone we loved around us and a wonderful time. The hospice was transformed for our wedding, and knowing Dave could receive the care he needed at any moment made it perfect.” 

With expert care and support Dave’s condition improved sufficiently to undergo some rehabilitation, gaining skills to live with a spinal injury. A few months later he and Olivia moved into an accessible flat and were able to live together for the first time as a married couple.  

Four months later Dave got a chest infection. Despite hospitalisation it kept recurring, leaving him unable to write or use his phone. Eventually, he made the decision to stop the treatment, knowing what the outcome would be. He was keen to get back to the hospice.  

Olivia recalls,“With everything we’d been through in the past year or so, it was the one place where he’d been happiest, cared for and safe in the knowledge that his needs could always be met. So, when he made that choice to not fight the chest infections, we knew we had to get him back to the hospice, which we did on the Friday and though we thought we might have a few weeks he died 3 days later”. 

Olivia and her family felt so supported and cared for that they knew when her father, Graham, was diagnosed with lung cancer in April 2026, the hospice would be the place they all wanted him to be. “I was just so relieved that he was able to be brought to the hospice. It was a bit emotional and a bit difficult, but I calmed down and realised no, it was ok. He was wheeled in and the nurse said, “Are you ok now, Graham?” and he said “I’m absolutely fine. I just wanted to see that Livi has a smile on her face”. That was just him.

Graham was in the hospice for a week, during which time his wife Margaret even brought the hospice donkeys to him.  One evening all Graham’s family gathered there – his four daughters including Olivia, Grace and their two half-sisters, one who lives in York and one in the USA.  

“Everyone was there including my partner James and our daughter Rosalie. We ordered food from the kitchen and just sat together, Dad’s bed was wheeled outside, and we spent the summer’s evening enjoying our food and just laughing together and telling jokes. Dad was the king of dad jokes, so we spent half the evening with him just telling us one liners and things like that. It was bittersweet but it is a fond memory. It was important to Dad that everyone was there, they had made it.”