A family legacy in the British hospice movement is the inspiration behind one of Victoria Hospice’s longest-giving donors.
Nikki Bridger recalls her mother, Dr. Marjorie Reid, working tirelessly as the co-founder of Willen Hospice in Milton Keynes, England.
After caring for patients in a busy medical practice and parenting five children throughout the day, Dr. Reid devoted many late nights to getting the new facility off the ground, Nikki says. In addition to securing a site and negotiating with city council, Dr. Reid raised funds to see the new hospice open in 1981 and became the hospice’s first medical director.
“She was an amazing woman, with incredible energy and commitment. She saw the need for death to be seen not just from a medical point of view. That was very important to her.”
Dr. Reid championed compassionate end-of-life care in the early days of the modern hospice movement.
“We learn to care by listening to the dying, by remembering that they are whole people, not in any way diminished or made into second-class citizens by the approach of death,” Dr. Reid said. “Their personal dignity must be respected and their sense of dignity maintained. It is important that they be helped to live until they die.”
As a teenager, Nikki had the opportunity to see that compassionate approach in action when visiting the new facility with her mother.
“I was very fearful the first time I went into the hospice with her, but she felt strongly that I needed to see it. I remember her going around and chatting with all the staff and patients. I thought many patients didn’t look like they were dying. She told me, ‘that’s because their pain is being managed and they have the support they need. They can be in a peaceful place where they can relax in their last few days or weeks.’ It gave me a whole new perspective on the difference that hospice care could make.”
Nikki and her husband, Ian, have honoured that commitment to compassionate care and Dr. Reid’s memory, as dedicated Victoria Hospice donors for 30 years and monthly donors for 18 years.
“I think of my mother smiling down, saying, ‘good on you for keeping this going.’”
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“There is so much to think about, it’s one less thing to forget to do.”