A DAYLESFORD woman who cared for her terminally ill partner has said without Ballarat Hospice, it would have been unlikely she could have died at home.
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An emotional Mary-Faeth Chenery spoke at the recent launch of Ballarat Hospice’s appeal to raise $1 million to cope with a doubling of clientele over the past years and move to a new premises to cope with demand.
Ballarat Hospice delivers palliative care to Ballarat, Hepburn, Golden Plains and Moorabool shires.
Ms Chenery’s partner Gale had terminal cancer and wanted to spend her final days at home.
She described the hospice as a “rock of support”, providing everything from a free hospital bed to use at-home to middle-of-the-night support with medications to home visits from compassionate nurses, doctors and counsellors.
“It was truly a privilege to be able to live with my partner as she went through the final stages of her life and the support of hospice was crucial to this,” she said.
“I can only imagine a long series of regrets for me if we had not had this time together at home, to treasure the love that we shared for 32 years.”
Ms Chenery said it was a special gift to be able to die at home rather than in hospital.
“If you think about it in the long term and how you would like to die, because we plan for most of our lives but we don’t often plan for our dying,” she said.
“For our loved ones, we want that too, and we want to be able to be with them. I think hospice is only resource I can see in the community where we can have that.
Ms Chenery said staff were able to tell them when it “was time”, to ensure Gale’s sister had time to fly down from Queensland.
“It was a very reassuring, very moving, very compassionate act on hospice’s part and I do hope it expands and grows well because many more people will need to use it and obviously many more people want to.”
Hospice patron Rob Knowles said hospice gave those left behind dramatically-improved health and wellness outcomes.
“It may be us indirectly who will benefit as a result of this appeal. And if not us, then perhaps someone close to us,” he said.
The hospice’s clientele has doubled in the past five years from 70 to caring for 140 people now at any one time.
The “Give to Help Hospice Grow” appeal will soon release details on how community members can donate.
