Inspirational Stories

Touching Our Hearts

The Halpin Family

We receive many letters and notes from our patients’ families thanking us for the special care that they and their loved ones received. These letters are very special to all the staff at North Shore Hospice, and reassure us that we are making a real difference to the North Shore community. Rosalind Halpin wrote the following letter that touched the hearts of everyone at Hospice. We would like to share it with you in recognition of the support we at Hospice receive from the North Shore community – without which we would not be able to provide our professional and caring service that makes such a difference to so many people.

Dear Dr Ellis,

Today it is two months since our beloved husband and father, Ron Halpin, passed away at North Shore Hospice.

For you, those two months have undoubtedly been filled with caring for people like Ron. For us, they have been days spent struggling to come to terms with what happened to our happily retired husband and father. As ordinary folk who deal with death only when we have to, we wonder how you and your staff carry out your work day by day. As a family, we are only immensely grateful that you do!

On the day that we checked Ron into Hospice we thought we were coming for a day visit. Not for Ron any chance to bid his home of 43 years goodbye! When he was taken from the Hospice 2.5 weeks later we, his family, had travelled an amazing journey – one which we will never forget and will be forever grateful for. His diagnosis only a few weeks before had left us stunned and, like most families, struggling to cope. We knew his prognosis was bad but we were still living with the sense of hope. On reflection, we’re not sure what we were hoping for; we knew a miracle cure wasn’t likely but when we met Dr Leeroy William that Friday morning, hope was what he gave us. A hope that the drugs Ron was being given would bring some relief to his symptoms, the hope that the following day Ron would feel better than he did today, the hope that if the drugs worked he could come back again for more treatment. Leeroy gave us a gift that day - he gave us the gift of hope.

Ron & Nicholas

I think perhaps our greatest hope was that there would be a day when we could all be together outside the hospice, with Ron feeling okay, and the rest of us pretending things were normal. As you know, we never got that one day. Instead we got 16 days of the most unbelievable care, love and attention. How quickly our family came to treat the hospice like home. How quickly you and your staff made us all feel so welcome. So many of your nursing staff cared for Ron during that period and they were all such different people but every one of them brought something unique to the care of Ron. We know he thought they were all very special.

Suss Walding was our initial contact with Hospice and she certainly demonstrated that “the hospice is not just a building” to us. Her analysis of where Ron was at was amazingly accurate and we are extremely grateful for the way in which she helped us through that very short preadmission period.

While we are saddened that Ron entered North Shore Hospice that Friday with no real inkling he wouldn’t come home, in hindsight, he couldn’t have picked a more appropriate place from which to leave this world. While we know the severity of his symptoms challenged you medically, we could see that the wonderful care and attention he received was something given to all your patients. Ron was a gentle and caring man who lived his entire life looking out for others (evidenced by the hundreds who attended his funeral) and he died receiving the kind of love and care he had spent his life giving.

We, his family, add our names to the long list of people who remain indebted to North Shore Hospice, for the truly special care you give and the dignifi ed way you enable people to die. Please pass on our most sincere thanks to all of your team.

Kindest regards,

Rosalind Halpin
On behalf of the Halpin and Eastwood families