Page 24 - TOH_Impact Report 2022-2023

HONOURING KEV'S
LIFE THROUGH HOSPICE
It’s a privilege for everyone at Te Omanga Hospice to provide quality care to our patients and their families.
We’re here for everyone in our community thanks to our incredible supporters. Shirley is one. She has now been supporting Te Omanga Hospice for 15 years, after her husband Kevin died. We asked if she wouldn’t mind sharing her family’s story, and why she has given so much to the Hospice.
My husband Kevin was an amazing person. He loved life and always had a grin that made you think he was thinking of something funny.
When we first met, I was 16 and Kev was 18. We used to go ‘parking’ on a Saturday night down Whakatiki Street, often after going to a dance. For a laugh we’d look for rabbits, me driving the Morris 1000 with the headlights on and Kev chasing them around just for the fun of it!
We had two daughters, Michelle and Jo. Later, we would have two grandchildren Troy and Ashleigh. Since Kev’s passing, we’ve added two great- grandchildren, and we know he would have absolutely loved them.
His attitude to life was all about helping people. He volunteered with the Rimutaka Lions Club for nearly 35 years, but most important to him was being a great husband, dad, and grandad. He would have such fun with our grandkids. They used to fix things together in his shed, go for bear hunts at night, and search for insects where they would crouch down in the garden to study them then let them go.
In 2003, Kev was diagnosed with bowel cancer. It had spread, and they couldn’t get to it all. He accepted everything with grace and lived another four years with chemo treatments. The hospital gave him all the relief they could, but he was in a lot of pain. I hated seeing him like that, but Kev never complained, he made the most of the time he had left by just getting on with life.
He was working with my brother doing maintenance at Save Mart, and never missed a day’s work - right up until a couple of days before he died. He even went on a couple of trips away, once to help another factory with their roofing (which he didn’t dare tell me!), and he enjoyed it all. We also moved to a new house, and it was lovely seeing him thoroughly enjoying himself here – often sitting outside on the old swing chair looking back at the house.
When it was time for Te Omanga Hospice to come in, we accepted their help graciously. Although we were only supported by them for a short time, it was just amazing. Our nurse visited us every week, sometimes with the Hospice doctor, and we would all talk together. We really appreciated the personal support, follow-ups, and just knowing that they wanted to help us. They were there to look after me as well, and if I was worried about anything I could talk to someone
I trusted. Kev wanted to stay at home for as long as possible, but Te Omanga Hospice also offered to care for him in the Hospice – even if just for some respite. Having their door always open like that made a big difference.
One Friday night, after our daughter and grandkids had visited, Kev passed. In his last moments, we were sitting on the floor leaning against our bed together, my arm around him. I called our daughters, then the Hospice nurse was out here within half an hour.
In my experience, it struck me how lucky we are to have Te Omanga Hospice here for our community, and that they actually rely on the public to be able to do that. So even though I was working full-time, I knew I wanted to do something to give back and honour Kev’s life.
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