Hi my name is David and I met Rachael some months ago at Mary Stevens Hospice. She was working there on research for her new play. I was asked if I would like to have a word with her by my nurse Ruth, because I am a day patient at Mary Stevens. I said “Yes love to” (nobody told me I was about to join a parallel universe of a fantastic likeminded nutter as me)!

We think of hospices as “going in through the front door and out the back in a box”…at least that was my thought when I was referred after 7 years of treatment that had failed . I was very angered that I had been sent there… but it was one of the best things that could have happened to me. This lead to me enjoying a therapy called Reiki with lovely Anne. So much so, that I went and found me a healer which I travel a 100 miles a week to see.

All the years I was ill, my lovely wife, Pauline talked to me and I didn’t realise the impact it was having on her. This year she was diagnosed with leukaemia and all of a sudden I am a carer and it is horrible - you are helpless, worried and totally useless. Carers work so hard to be strong and not show any emotion and all the time they are in desperate need of support so I have changed the focus of our support group Let’s Live to help the carers more.

When I was told, in 2017,  that I was now terminal and how I would be receiving palliative care, I had to find a way to live this final period of my life. WOW my healer Emma! She heals me, supports me, asks me reaching questions that make me think outside the box, imparts knowledge  of how to control the pain with breathing and meditation - I could not go through this without her. So please, if you are in this position, I urge you to try everything you can to stay positive, as this part of your life must be enjoyed and savoured.

Dave Harper