Isolating Wigan pensioner's grateful thanks to 'ray of sunshine' hospice nurses

Winifred Sullivan, from Newtown, receives emotional support and personal care from the Hospice in your Home team at Wigan and Leigh Hospice (WLH).
Winifred SullivanWinifred Sullivan
Winifred Sullivan

The hospice staff and district nurses also provide a vital lifeline to the outside world for 84-year-old Winifred as her relatives live too far away to see her during the coronavirus crisis and her husband Roger lives in a care home.

She was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus last year and spoke of how much the support from the Hindley-based hospice means to her.

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She said: “I feel I’ve got great support. If they didn’t come tomorrow it would break my heart. I want to be peaceful, happy and content and I am when I’ve got these girls coming to see me.

“My sister was looked after by a hospice on the Isle of Man. I wanted the kind of people who gave my sister the love she had at the end of her life and I get it when the hospice nurses come to see me.

“If they stopped coming you might as well say ‘goodnight Winifred’. They are a ray of sunshine.”

Winifred was referred to hospice community services by her GP and the Hospice in your Home team has been visiting once a week since the start of April. She also receives visits from the district nurses.

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Winifred said: “Now these girls are coming I feel like I have a new lease of life.

“When I know they are coming I’ve something to look forward to. They know what they are talking about and they are very special people.

“I feel very privileged and humble having the hospice look after me.”

Former nurse Winifred worked as both a geriatric and general nurse at Whelley Hospital and Wigan Infirmary before she and her husband took on a fish and chip business.

Winifred and Roger ran Sully’s Chippy in Lock Street, Pemberton, for 17 years before retirement.

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