Surprise! How Trinity Hospice made special memories for Carol

During May 2023, Carol Johns spent two weeks on Trinity Hospice’s In-patient Unit for pain control and symptom management. While she was there, she had regular visits from her daughters Amy and Kirsty – both of whom were pregnant. 

Daisy Jackson, Trinity’s In-patient Unit Manager, says when Kirsty asked if the hospice could help with an extra special visit, the team was only too happy to accommodate. 

“Carol had told us that she’d missed out on some of Kirsty’s antenatal appointments”, said Daisy, “and although she’d seen scan pictures, she wished she’d been there for more.”

So Daisy and her team got in touch with some of their healthcare partners and, between them, arranged a surprise for Carol.

Laura Walsh, Bereavement Midwife at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, visited the hospice, and helped create the special experience for Kirsty and Carol. 

Carol, who has since been discharged to a local care home, said: “Kirsty had told me the day before that she’d be in to see me earlier than usual. I thought nothing of it.

“The next day, two nurses who I hadn’t seen before came into my room and asked if I could go with them.” Carol says that was unusual, but she went along anyway: “they said they had something to show me!”

“As I walked down the corridor, I saw what looked like the back of Kirsty’s head through the window in the door. And then as the nurses moved out of the way, I could see she was there wating for me. 

“She gave me a kiss and said ‘surprise!’. They told me they’d arranged for Kirsty to have a sonogram at the hospice so that I could be there when she heard the baby’s heartbeat. It was just unreal!”

Carol says that there are no words to explain that moment: “the heartbeat was so strong. We were just holding hands and crying.”

Daisy added that the teams at Trinity will always try to pull out all the stops to make special memories for the people they look after:

“When Kirsty asked for help, we sprung into action, working with Laura at the Trust. She went out of her way to help with such a lovely moment. I doubt it would have happened at all without both Laura and the hospice going above and beyond.”

Daisy reflects that it’s moments like these which make their work so richly rewarding: “it gives our care teams enormous satisfaction to create these truly special moments for our families.”

Carol adds: “that the hospice had gone out of their way to arrange that, I was beyond words. The hospice has absolutely excelled itself. I’ve never known such kindness.”

Thank you to Carol and Trinity Hospice for sharing her story.