Ron’s wish comes true as his horse visits St Giles
Dreams can come true, as St Giles’ patient Ron Smith
was able to prove when he received a very special
visitor in the gardens of the Whittington hospice.
Ron, 66, who was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer, had
only one last wish - to be reunited with his 15-year-old horse Jay.
Ron fell in love with horses and horse riding when he visited Texas
around 20 years ago, and has been involved with them ever since. He
got Jay four years ago and rode him five or six times a week, which
saw the pair develop an incredibly close bond. His sister Sandra said:
“Ron really missed Jay when he was first admitted to hospital and
when he was transferred to the hospice one of the first things
staff offered to do was arrange for Jay to be brought to him. I
didn’t think it would be possible for Ron to see Jay again, but
thanks to staff at the hospice and at Lullington Hill Stables, where
Jay is stabled, he was able to come and visit.
“It was a really lovely moment for
Ron and Jay and the connection
between them was so obvious – it
was a really emotional moment for
everyone involved.”
St Giles Nursing Director Katie Taroni added that everybody at
the hospice believed it was really important to be able to go that
extra mile for patients. She said:
“At St Giles we talk about doing what matters for our patients and
it’s clear that for many people, what really matters is their family
– including their animals. We understand that doing even small
things that matter makes a really big difference.”
It’s our birthday, let’s paint the town orange!
Hip, hip, hurrah! 2018 marks 35 years since St Giles
Hospice was founded and we’d love everyone to
help us celebrate and raise money so we can carry
on supporting people in our community for many
more years to come!
Plans are already underway for ‘Orange Week’, a packed series
of events across the region from 7-15th July. It promises to be
an amazing week and we want as many of you to get involved
as possible. So what will you be doing to paint your town
orange? You could join us in celebrating Orange Wednesday
by going orange at work, school or college, organise an orange
cake sale, dye your hair orange… the choice is yours.
There are so many ways you could get involved and every
penny raised goes to help people in our community. Give us a
call on 01543 432538 or pop over to our social media pages
where we’ll be sharing ideas and you can keep us posted on
what you’ve got planned. If 1983 was a special year for you
too, we’d love to hear from you – call 01543 432538 or email
[email protected]
01543 432031 I stgileshospice.com I [email protected]
35
years
of caring
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