Arlene was a wonderful wife, mum, granny, sister, auntie and friend. Full of love and joy. Excited after retiring early. Ready for adventures in the new campervan she‘d bought with her husband of 45 years, George.

In January 2020 she was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND). This devastating diagnosis only had one outcome. The majority of people diagnosed with MND die within 2 years. The form of MND she had quickly took away her abilty to speak. This made it very hard for her to express the way she was feeling and enjoy time with her family, especially her new granddaughter. MND was gradually making eating and swallowing harder and harder. She had to make a dessision to have a PEG fitted directly into her stomach so a liquid feed could keep her alive.

Arlene’s health was getting progressively worse and the MND was making moving harder, sleeping difficult, and she would regularly choke. She became reliant on machines to help her cough to clear her throat and eventually to breath. Her husband George was there every step. A solid partnership, George went though countless sleepless nights caring for Arlene. There was little help at this stage. As a family we could see her suffering and it was devastating.

Towards the end the palliative care help kicked in and Arlene had become reliant on them to keep her comfortable. She expressed that she wanted to die at home with her family and we were determined to make this happen.

Arlene (the best mum ever) died from Motor neurone disease on the 21st of January 2022 at home with her family as was her wish. Throughout the last 2 years of her life Arlene’s bravery was astonishing. She was an inspiration. X

We would like to raise money in her memory for three of the charities that made it possible for Arlene to be at home at the end of her life.

Please donate to one of these charities as listed below. Click one of the three donate buttons further down the page under the heading Team members. Thank you

Cynthia Spencer, hospice at home.

Lakeland hospice, Corby.

Marie Curie