Don Walker has fond memories of the “angels” who cared for his late wife at Foothills Country Hospice.
The eight-bed hospice just north of Okotoks, one of seven Foothills charities being supported by Western Wheel Cares this year, proved to be a godsend for the entire Walker family last summer.
“The nurses there were amazing, absolutely amazing,” said Walker of the facility where his wife of 57 years, Dianne, spent her final five weeks. “She was treated like a queen.”
Walker said Dianne passed away at the age of 77 last September, just three months after an ovarian cancer diagnosis. She spent the first three weeks in hospital, but when the cancer was too far gone, she wanted to go home.
“We had compassionate care 24 hours a day and it was like a circus because every eight hours somebody different would be coming in,” Walker said. “Finally she says, ‘This isn't my house anymore.’
“In the meantime, we had taken her to the hospice and we had a complete tour, but it can be hard to get people in there because they only have eight beds. About four days later, we got a phone call that there was an opening and she couldn't wait to get there.”
Walker, who turned 80 a month ago, can’t speak highly enough about the staff, particularly the nurses, who he said cared for Dianne with the utmost compassion.
“I don't know how you do that work. They’re something special because they know what the consequences are, they know when you come there, you're not going out, but they keep going every day with a smile on their face, treating everyone with such kindness,” he said. “Every nurse was just perfect.
“My daughter's been a nurse for 35 years and she said she couldn't do what they do.”
Foothills Country Hospice holds such a special place in his heart that Walker returns regularly, sometimes for group grief counselling, but other times to bring ice cream or pizza to thank the staff for all they’ve done, and each time he visits, he makes a point of sitting on a bench installed in the garden in Dianne’s memory.
“I can't tell you how good that place is,” he said.
Walker spent the final week of his wife’s life in a guest suite at the hospice so he could always be by her side.
Located on an eight-acre parcel with gardens and mountain views, the hospice broke ground on an expansion last June that will double the number of beds and increase its ability to provide end-of-life and bereavement care.
This year’s Western Wheel Cares campaign runs until Dec. 31. In 2023, the campaign raised a record $100,002, pushing its 12-year total to $669,061.
Each week, the Wheel will feature one of the seven organizations — Foothills Advocacy in Motion Society, Foothills Country Hospice, Inclusion Foothills, Okotoks Food Bank, Pound Rescue, Rowan House Society and Sheep River Health Trust — supported by the initiative.
To donate to Western Wheel Cares, mail cheques to Box 150, Okotoks, AB, T1S 2A2 or visit westernwheel.ca/western-wheel-cares for a Paypal donation link. As well, you can drop by the Wheel office at 9 McRae St. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays (closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch) or call 403-938-6397.
