You may well recognise one of our patients, Keith aged 75. Not only did he star in some filming we did with the BBC over Christmas of 2023, he’s also a regular face in pictures from our Wellbeing sessions, which he has been attending for over a year. 

We recently sat down with him to find out more about his life, and how our services have helped him through a difficult time.

In this short series of blogs, he talks about each of our 3 services and explains how we’ve helped him.

Early life and diagnosis

Keith is originally from Nottingham and grew up in a family of miners. But, after leaving school at 15, he turned down the chance to work at a local colliery and moved to Birmingham where he worked in catering among other roles.

Later, his wife Pat became ill, and they ended up returning to Nottingham – in the Clifton area. He said: “I looked after Pat for 14 years. She was diabetic and had spinal problems.” He jokes “she was a pain in the backside, but we were married for 30 years before she died in March 2023. By that point I was already ill myself and had been getting worse for a few years.”

Keith was diagnosed with heart problems and other complications following a trip to the hospital with chest pains. “Suddenly they came out with a list of things – ‘you’ve had a few mini strokes. Your heart’s not good.’ And then a final surprise was that I had cancer, too. It’s a lot to have walloped at you in one go, and I was in a real daze when I came out of hospital.”

Wellbeing sessions: “a sanctuary”

Keith has been sent into hospital 10 times or more since. Eventually, a district nurse suggested he get in touch with the Hospice for physiotherapy on his back, which began helping him. This led him to take part in our regular Wellbeing sessions at our Woodborough Road centre.

He explains, “It’s just fantastic. It really is the only thing keeping me going and I look forward to it like nobody’s business. It’s like walking into a room full of friends. A sanctuary. Sometimes I feel guilty when I’m in my wheelchair and in pain and not full of it. But by the time I leave, I’m full of the joys of spring.”

He adds “Otherwise, I don’t see anyone, whereas at the Hospice there’s new people all the time. I can’t sleep the night before I go to the Hospice. I get all my clothes out and my bag ready. It’s because I’m looking forward to it – I’ll be out of bed for 5 or 6am, waiting for my lift.”

Keith will often arrive with cream cakes and treats for his friends and staff at the Hospice. He recently showed up with a dart board, too!

“Whenever I see someone, I tell them about the Hospice. They think it’s a sad, miserable place with people dying. So, I have to explain what the Hospice really is and what it means to me.”