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FUNDRAISER STORY
Sue’s Story Giving back to the Hospice by doing something she loves Meet Rev. Dr Sue Lucas – she’s a
familiar face for many in East Ham
as the Team Rector in the Parish,
and here at the Hospice as one of our superstar fundraisers. We first met Sue when our Community Team cared for her mum, Joyce, in late 2022. Joyce had moved down from her home in Scotland to live with Sue and her family in East London after her health declined through the pandemic.
“My mother had congestive heart failure for the past decade, and after we returned from Scotland, her heart failure deteriorated rapidly. After several hospitalisations, she got tired of going to the hospital. We talked with her
GP about what care we could give her at home, and they recommended we contact the Hospice. Our first experience with St Joseph’s Hospice was with one of the doctors. They helped to change her meds slightly,
and with the support of the nurses, she got oxygen at home, which
gave her another five months of ‘within-limits good life’.
The Physio team helped us work out a way for her to get to the bathroom so that we could wash her hair, and we even had a hairdresser come in so that she could have her hair blow-dried. They helped her to keep herself as herself.”
Between Sue and the care team, they had planned some respite care for Joyce to come and stay at the Hospice for a short time; however, she died a month before this happened.
“She was very aware at 96 that her earthly journey was ending. She was clear that she would do whatever would make her life better, but at some point, it would end. What was absolutely beautiful was that it was only the last weeks or so of her life that it was about dying. Before that, although she was dying, it was all about living well.
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