7 Oct 2022 Community

WT Johnson raises over £2,600 for The Kirkwood by climbing The Yorkshire Three Peaks

The Kirkwood is a family of people and our fantastic nurses are determined to give the very best of care to anyone who is suffering with a life limiting illness. We came to the aid of Mrs Laraine Lees who we cared for in 2022 as she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  

Now her daughter Bonita, who works for a local company called WT Johnson, has raised over £2,600 by climbing the Yorkshire 3 Peaks with a number of her colleagues.  

Laraine was unexpectedly diagnosed with terminal cancer at the end of November 2021. After her diagnosis, Bonita asked Laraine to move in with her family so that they could look after her. 

On the care The Kirkwood provided for her mum, Bonita said: "The Kirkwood were made aware of my Mum’s situation via her GP and came to visit during Christmas week to see how we were getting on.  

“The lovely Moyra assessed my Mum and decided that the pain relief wasn’t enough so arranged for her to be admitted to the hospice  to try and get her pain management under control with the view to her coming back home to us. Heartbreakingly my beautiful Mum didn’t make it back home and passed away on January 15th 2022 on The Kirkwood's In-Patient Unit. 

"The Kirkwood provides invaluable care both physically and emotionally to both patients and their families which we feel is really important to maintain and wanted to help in any way we could.  

“Whether it's counseling support or helping families create lasting memories with their loved ones, the staff are always there supporting you through what is such a hard journey and that is something so many families don’t get which The Kirkwood provides 

"All the staff were amazing not just with my mum but with us as a family as well. In all aspects of care they were there for us pre/during and after.   

"They make The Kirkwood what it is and I cannot thank them enough for everything they did whilst my mum was in their care. They made her time there comfortable and we got to spend precious time with her daily.  

"They treat patients like family and I’ll never forget the giggles the staff and us all used to have with my mum, she retained her sense of humour as much as she could. Many who helped my mum will remember her love of wolves with her cuddly wolf toy and cushions and also her becoming so obsessed with hot chocolate and at one point drunk all of what The Kirkwood had in stock!"  

Bonita and her team of colleagues were determined to raise funds for The Kirkwood and decided to walk the 3 peaks.  

Event organiser Julie Dove explained how the event went.  

She said: "We completed the Challenge on Saturday 27th August with the last team member coming at 11 Hrs 26 Minutes so within the 12 Hrs expected which was a great effort. 

"We had extremely warm conditions to contend with along with some mental challenges but we pushed through. It was incredibly emotional to realise the enormity of the challenge we’d completed. I was really proud of the team as at times throughout the day we all had to dig deep and I think we all mentally went places we never realised we would. It's been a great personal challenge for us all and we are really happy we did it."  

Taking on the event from WT Johnson was Julie Dove, Bonita Gill and Louise Cumiskey. They were supported by Rosie Crosland and Glen Turner. 

Julie expressed her overwhelming delight at raising such a terrific amount of funds for The Kirkwood.  

She said: "The team worked hard over the last three months preparing for the challenge. We’d climbed a couple of smaller peaks as part of our training. As we got closer to the challenge our nerves started to creep in especially for Bonita and Louise as this is the biggest challenge physically any of us have ever done. However knowing we were raising money for such a good cause pushed us on 

"Walking the 3 Peaks in memory of Bonita’s Mum and raising money for The Kirkwood is a way of being able to give something back to all the staff at The Kirkwood to say thank you so much again for everything you did for Bonita’s Mum and her family. 

"We work and live in the local community and we wanted to give something back to help other families receive the same support Bonita and her family have received 

"As team leader both in the challenge & at WTJ I am immensely proud of the guys. They have massively pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and far above anything else they have ever done to do the challenge. Their determination to see it through is inspiring and watching them encourage each other through the training and on the walk itself was a pleasure to watch and shows what a strong team we have at WT Johnson."  

Everyone at The Kirkwood would like to thank the WT Johnson team and say how proud we are to have you as part of our family.