Last request was for donations at funeral to help hospital cancer ward

Mum's legacy is help for others                                   

By Adam Lovell

 A CANCER unit has been given a bed with a pink mattress after grieving relatives of Diane Hope generously donated cash to the cause.

More than £3,000 has been donated to a hospital ward as the last request of a cancer victim.

The money has been donated by Paul Hope, whose late wife Diane sadly died last  November after a 10-and-a-half-year battle with breast cancer.

Paul, who has a daughter, Charlie (21), explained why the money was raised for the ward, "Before Diane passed away, one of her final wishes was for donations at her funeral to be made to ward 19," he said.  "We had flowers from immediate family, but asked for donations to be made to the ward, "Diane fought hard against her illness for a decade and the staff on the chemotherapy ward were guardian angels to her through this time. "They treat every patient superbly and this is a way to say thank you to them and help them out for the future." 

Scunthorpe General Hospital Ward 19 manager Judy Johnson holds a photo of Diane Hope, as Diane's husband Paul and daughter Charlie present £3,650 to ward staff.

The money is to be spent purchasing a bed with a pink mattress.

The gratitude shown by Paul was not lost, Judy Johnson, clinical sister on day care at the chemotherapy ward said, "Diane was a wonderful woman, and a severely missed member of the family down here." She was tremendous, a lovely and popular lady who never complained and always had a smile on her face, she wished to give something back for all the care she had received and this was how she wanted to do it, "We get funding for a lot of equipment, but it is acts of kindness like this which allow us to provide a better service, "It is amazing what very sick people can do as acts of gratitude."

The fundraising is not set to stop there either as Paul, who is the watch manager at Crowle Fire Station, is in the process of organising a sponsored wing walk, "I'm going to carry on raising money for ward 19, they have been fantastic and I want to repay as much as I can," he said, "The wing walk is in the pipeline and will be taking place in the near future." And he explained any information will be published on the website, www.crowlefirestation.com.

Judy Johnson shows Paul and Charlie an electrically-operated bed similar to one the ward will buy with the donation.

Also, if anyone wishes to donate money to the chemotherapy ward then cheques, made payable to Ward 19 Endowment Fund, can be sent to Julianne Woolas, Ward 19 Manager, Scunthorpe General Hospital.

 adam.lovell@scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk

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If you would like to donate money to the chemotherapy ward, then cheques made payable to Ward 19 Endowment Fund, can be sent to:

Julianne Woolas,

Ward 19 Manager,

Scunthorpe General Hospital

Paul recently held a Coffee morning to boost the fund and raised £1,235.70

Pink Ball Held at Hirst Priory Golf Club raised £3,900