"My fathers death at the Kilbryde Hospice"

Hi, this story is also about an Alex (my father, 88 years old) and about his death or I should say his peaceful passing at the Kilbryde Hospice?  The reason I wanted to write this is because the staff and support workers in my view went above and beyond to care for him in the last few weeks of his life.  My father lived a long and happy life and although he had lived with Prostrate Cancer for many years, ultimately an aggressive cancer in the mouth and Dementia brought his demise.

My father passed away peacefully  on the 19th April 2021 in the early hours of the morning with family at his side, he had been in the Kilbryde Hospice for around 4 weeks and during this time, the staff genuinely made him feel special, both he and my family felt they could have done no more for him, they looked after him as if he was special, always aiming to cheer him up, looking after all his  needs, whether this was administrating pain medication,  washing or cleaning, supplying coffee or teas, cutting up his meals into small manageable pieces so he could swallow, nothing seemed to much trouble for them.

In essence, I believe they treated him the same way they would have treated their own family, with considerable love, patience and dignity, in the end, he slipped away peacefully but the staff at this hospice has left me and my family with a lasting memory of their care and attention, I will always be in their debt for the way they looked after my father and the support they gave to family members, these people really have gone above and beyond, and this has all been done during a period of Covid restrictions where we had to wear full PPE during visiting and restrictions/limitations in visitor numbers.

When my father passed, the team took a short time to make him look presentable to the family and put out some flowers and candles, this was such a touching moment.

Just a few names I wish to mention are Lorraine, Donna, Emily, Joanne, Iain and Diane. Willie (one of the Chaplains) and Sister Sophie never went by without dropping in and saying a few cheerful words which my dad always appreciated, there are many others working there and each and everyone of them has helped an old man pass away with love and dignity, each and every one of the staff are special at the Kilbryde Hospice.

Yours Sincerely