Craigavon family share journey with Southern Area Hospice after another Christmas without Angela
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This Christmas, Southern Area Hospice Services invites you to remember your loved ones by dedicating a light to them on their very special Christmas Tree.
The Light Up a Life Christmas tree, organised each year by the Hospice, will be illuminated at Craigavon Civic Centre at 12pm on Tuesday December 6.
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The family of Angela share how supportive the Hospice was. Angela was a 38-year-old mum of two children, Emma and Michael, when she was diagnosed.
Her husband and best friend Frank recalls: “We were happy enjoying and living a normal life in Craigavon. Our children were very young, only 7 and 5. Angela loved family life and worked hard to keep everything just right for our children. She was funny and kind and loved to chat. We were just normal like everyone else I suppose.
"Angela hadn’t felt well for a little while and had been to the doctor for different things, when in July 2017 what she thought was a minor infection was confirmed as a rare cancer and we were given the devastating news that it was already stage 4 and terminal. We had small children and Angela was only 38, we never thought that this would be our story.
"It was so hard to take in and when I look back, I really don’t know how we got through all of it but Angela had a lot to live for and she did everything she could to stay with us for as long as possible and so she underwent rounds of chemotherapy.
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Hide Ad"We just needed more time. But time wasn’t on our side, and we knew that, so our thoughts instead turned to what Angela wanted and her one wish was to go on a cruise with the children and so, against all advice, that was what we did. We went on a cruise and made a lifetime of memories; this is the one thing from that awful time that I would not change.
"When we came home it was clear how unwell Angela was and Hospice respite care was mentioned to us. Angela was admitted to Hospice in April 2019, and we immediately understood what Hospice care was, they were simply excellent, and they really helped us all through those last days. I was so un-prepared to lose her, and they helped me and showed me how to help the children.
"Hospice isn’t just about medical care and attention, but it also was spiritual support for all of us. Angela passed away in Hospice but our whole family were all in the care of the Hospice the entire time we were there.
"We will never forget how they helped us and so now myself and the children try our best to help them by raising money every year through the ‘Angela McCabe Cup’ and we know that this money will help some other family benefit from the same care that we did, and I think that Angela would be very proud of us all.”