Lee-Anne & her ladies take on hospice walk for husband Richard

A Bristol woman whose husband has been diagnosed with terminal cancer is taking part in the upcoming St Peter’s Hospice Midnight Walk to raise money for the charity providing support to her family.

Lee-Anne Masters, 33, from Horfield will take on the 5-mile challenge on Saturday 12 July along with a group of friends and family after deciding she wanted to give something back to the hospice which cares for husband Richard.

Richard, who is 35, suffers from a rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and has been given just weeks to live on two occasions. The family now visit Bristol’s only adult hospice once a week where Richard receives spiritual therapy and Lee-Anne benefits from music therapy.

The Masters familyLee-Anne, who is now a full-time carer for Richard, has said the care given to her family by the hospice has been so amazing that she will do everything she can to give back.

She said: “The hospice has done so much for both myself and Rich and our six-year-old son Soul, I just can’t thank them enough. We are experiencing first-hand how amazing they are so we really wanted to do something to give back.

“When we visit the hospice Rich talks to Dave the spiritual care coordinator, who has been such a help. We spend a lot of time talking to doctors and medics who tell us Rich’s illness is incurable, but as Christians it has been so important for us to talk to someone about the faith we have beyond medical diagnoses and Dave has been so understanding. The hospice has given us something you can’t get at hospital, which is wonderful.

“I also visit the hospice to attend therapy sessions with the music therapist Jane Lings. She is just unbelievable. Before seeing her I wasn’t able to talk about anything, especially not the idea that Rich might actually die. I wasn’t properly acknowledging what was going on and couldn’t even think about or verbalise how I was feeling.

“Since seeing Jane I have come so far and I’ve even written a song about Rich, which has helped massively. I honestly don’t know where I would be today without her help, it has been truly amazing.

“We also have a community nurse specialist Jane Tyson who visits us at home. It’s so reassuring to know that Jane is always at the end of the phone and will come round straight away if we’re struggling.

“The hospice has done so much for us that I’m so looking forward to being able to do something for them. I’ve got my mum Maxine, my auntie Alison and my friends Kerry, Alison and Becky taking part with me as well as a group of ladies from the Ebenezer Church in Filton Avenue, which we go to.

“We’re all so excited to take part, we’ve heard the atmosphere is amazing and the walk itself is beautiful so we’re even considering going the whole hog and doing the 10-mile route!

“We’re all dressing in pink tutus and hope to raise at least £250. I’ve never done anything like this before but we can’t wait.

“I want to support the hospice as much as I can so I’m also planning to arrange a gig soon with all ticket sales going to the hospice.”

As Bristol’s only adult hospice, St Peter’s Hospice cares for more than 2,489 patients each year as well as supporting family members.

All services are provided free of charge but this care costs around £18,000 a day. For around £14,000 of that, the hospice relies on gifts in wills, kind donations and funds generated by the hospice shops.

The Midnight Walk is taking place on Saturday 12 July. Starting at Ashton Gate Stadium, there is the option of either a 5-mile or 10-mile route around Bristol, taking in all the famous landmarks, including the ss Great Britain and the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Registration for the event is £18 which includes an event pack and t-shirt. Registration closes on Tuesday 8 July.

To find out more about the walk or to sign up please visit www.stpetershospice.org

To sponsor Lee-Anne visit her Justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/Lee-Anne-Masters

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