BEING ABLE TO CUDDLE SEAN WAS A BEAUTIFUL WEDDING GIFT
Sharing a cuddle meant the world to Sean, his wife Sarah, and his family at the end of his life.
Sharing a cuddle meant the world to Sean, his wife Sarah, and his family at the end of his life.
In June last year, Sarah Grant and Sean Macauley enjoyed an intimate wedding ceremony at North Devon Hospice after Sean was diagnosed with terminal cancer only seven weeks before. While having the hospice’s Bedded Unit Team turn around a wedding in just 48 hours was magical enough for the couple, being able to use a Cuddle Bed on their wedding night made a day full of memories even more precious.
A Cuddle Bed is a specialist clinical bed, which has state-of-the-art features to help keep patients comfortable towards the end of life. Crucially, unlike any other clinical bed, a Cuddle Bed can extend to double the width, which allows loved ones to share the bed and retain that closeness and sense of normality, even when the rest of the world is shaken.
“Our relationship with the hospice was short and fast-paced; being able to pull our wedding date forward to have our first (and also our last) week together as a married couple felt very important,” said Sarah. “Sean had needed to rest immediately after the ceremony but late afternoon, he felt strong enough to come out on the balcony, sit in the sunshine and try a piece of wedding cake! The nurses seized the opportunity to remove Sean’s standard bed and replace it with a Cuddle Bed – they even decorated it with rose petals, swans crafted from hand towels, and fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate! It was so thoughtful and there was plenty of room for the two of us, plus Sean’s medical paraphernalia and his fortress of 52 pillows – I exaggerate but you know where I’m coming from! That evening, we were able to sit comfortably together, as Newlyweds, without the worry of accidentally catching a wire.”
Sean’s children, Callum and Hannah, and Sean’s daughter in law, Ella, were also able to experience the benefits of the Cuddle Bed.
“Hannah especially would snuggle into Sean whenever she could, the pair of them listening to Callum reading aloud from one of Sean’s favourite books ‘Three Men in a Boat’, added Sarah. “On Father’s Day, they each read him a letter with all five of us in the room, the Cuddle Bed giving us options to be close to him – perching next to him, holding a hand, stroking his hair, massaging his feet. Whatever was needed, whatever felt like the right thing to do.”
Being born in the the 90s, Harry Potter was also another firm favourite that had featured heavily in Hannah and Callum’s childhood, Sean sharing their enjoyment firstly in the novels and later at the cinema. After Sean’s diagnosis, they made the decision to watch all of the Potter films again, the last being played at the hospice minutes before Sean took his final breath as Sarah explains.
“It sounds as if we made it up but it really is true!” said Sarah. “Sean was no longer communicative during his last few days but the team informed us that his hearing would hang on in there. Having all of us close around him on the Cuddle Bed, feeling so loved in his final moments, would have been exactly what he wanted. We’re really grateful that this bigger bed gave us that chance and can only hope that many more families are able to enjoy it’s rewards in really tough times.”
Along with raising £30,000 for another Cuddle Bed for the hospice’s Bedded Unit, the Cuddle Appeal will also contribute to more care in people’s homes, so everyone can enjoy the gift of a cuddle no matter where they are.
To make a donation to the Cuddle Appeal today or find out more about how you can fundraise to make a difference to local families like Sarah’s, visit northdevonhospice.org.uk/cuddle.