Emma's story
"Our daughter Emma was diagnosed with a non-malignant brain tumor in 2004. In later stages of her illness, Emma went blind and was unable to walk, but she was always smiling. She loved clothes, having her nails painted, colouring and doing word searches. She was a Sheffield Wednesday fan, loved Rother Valley Country Park and going to Crystal Peaks.
Emma's consultant told us about Bluebell Wood 2 years into her illness. When Emma started getting poorlier she didn't sleep well so we were up and down with her in the night. Bluebell Wood did a night shift once a week, which meant we could get one night a week's full sleep. As Emma deteriorated, the Bluebell Wood nurses were there for us 40 hours a week. She needed a lot of care, but it was nice that she knew the nurses and they knew her by then.
The weekend that Emma passed away, the nurses were there with us. The care we received was second to none and the nurses could explain the different things that were happening to Emma at different times. When she passed away, Emma was taken to the Forget Me Not suite at Bluebell Wood. She had all the teddies and photos from her room around her, and her favourite yellow bedding. She loved Westlife, so we played that in the room constantly.
The Forget Me Not suite allowed all our family and friends to say goodbye to Emma, and we could be with her all the time. It was especially good for our younger daughter Katie, as it made her realise that Emma was alright-just asleep. Katie had time with Emma that she needed, and we did too. It's much better that your child isn't just taken away from you, like they would be at hospital, the surroundings aren't clinical, and you can see they are at peace. Emma looked like she wasn't poorly any more, all the pain had gone
Bluebell Wood helped with Emma's service, and suggested things which we wouldn't have thought of but really helped us afterwards. Even though it was a sad time for us, we had happy memories of Emma being at Bluebell Wood. It was the worst time of our lives but it could have been a lot worse without Bluebell Wood."
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