East Anglia's Children's Hospices counselling ‘probably saved my life’, says bereaved dad
Awareness is being raised this Children's Hospice Week of families who have been pushed to their limits
Last updated 12th Jan 2022
A dad from Terrington St Clement in Norfolk has told us how bereavement counselling provided by East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) after his daughter died “probably saved my life”.
Gary Munden and Kelly Munden’s daughter, Annabel Munden, had Cockayne syndrome, a very rare genetic condition that only affects two to three people per million worldwide.
It meant “small, but mighty” Annabel was regularly in and out of hospital, with Gary and Kelly told she would probably not make it past her third birthday.
In June last year Annabel made her final visit to the King’s Lynn Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she died at the age of five.
After she died, Gary and Kelly asked for the three of them to be transferred to The Nook, EACH’s hospice in Framingham Earl, just south of Norwich, in order to spend some time with Annabel before returning home.
Gary said: “Going to The Nook for those two days probably saved my life. I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that immediate counselling from Amy Brown, EACH Counsellor. It saved me.
"I really didn’t want to go home after Annabel passed because we left for the hospital in such a rush everything was just left.
"Her bed was literally as we’d left it and I didn’t know how I’d cope with that.
"Amy talked us through everything and encouraged us to take pictures of how things were when we arrived so that we’d have those memories to look back on, if we ever wanted to.”
Kelly recalled: “The Nook was such a safe haven for those 48 hours. It was quite literally pure bliss.
"We had our own corridor, we had our meals cooked for us, we didn’t have to worry about anything. We were left alone as much as we wanted, but we knew someone was there to support us and nothing was too much trouble for the staff.
"It was our final time to spend together, as a family.
“From the moment we got to the hospice Amy was there. She helped us make memories even after Annabel had passed.
"She did casts of her hands and it felt to us like she almost knew Annabel, even though she’d she never met her. She talked us through everything, what we needed to do and she took the time to get to know us, as a family.
"She helped us plan Annabel’s thanksgiving service when we were ready, but didn’t rush us into thinking about that when it felt too soon.”
The theme of Children’s Hospice Week this year is Pushed to the Limits, reflecting how families who use children’s hospice services have been pushed to theirs during this last year.