When Devon sporting champion Katie Cox wanted to thank Hospiscare for helping her grandad, she had the perfect idea.
Katie, 24, from Rackenford, who is the Devon ladies clay pigeon shooting champion said that surprisingly it was a single chair which helped her grandfather John Lee more than anything during his struggle with cancer
“I know it sounds strange that a chair could mean so much,” she explained, “But it literally granted my grandfather his biggest wish. To stay at home.
“Hospiscare loaned us a very special electric chair. It was incredible – easing him into a comfortable position and helping him from sitting to standing.”
Katie’s mother Jenny who lives on the family farm near Tiverton, explained further: “My dad refused to have his bed moved downstairs. It was a question of pride… and so if he was having a bad day, he could sleep in that chair. It gave him independence. It also matched the room so it didn’t make him feel that people would know he was so unwell.
When John Lee , a retired engineer, died last year, aged 69, the family decided they would fundraise to buy Hospiscare more chairs. They cost £1,000 each and so Katie organised two clay pigeon shooting events, raising enough money to buy two.
“Grandad always helped us so I was just pleased to do something for him,” Katie said. “He was the one who first got me interested in shooting.”
The chairs were presented to Sue Lapka, one of the Hospiscare’s care managers. She said: “This is fantastic! We’re so grateful to John’s family for this unusual gift. We use these chairs to help people to stay in their own homes, or to help get them back home from the in-patient unit. The two that John’s family have donated will certainly be put to good use
