Debbie’s Story…

Debbie Slater’s dad, Frank Machin, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease following a stroke five years ago.

Very fond of music, Debbie used to play songs to her dad after his diagnosis which he enjoyed tremendously, but it soon became apparent Frank needed professional help as his condition worsened.

“On January 7, mum had a fall at home” says Debbie. “She kept asking Dad to get the phone but because of his dementia he didn’t know what to do. She was on the floor for 13 hours without us knowing. Mum was taken to hospital where it was found she had a bleed on the brain.

“I moved in with mum and dad but it was too much to look after both of them so I made the difficult decision to move dad into a residential home for a while so I could look after mum.

“Dad was doing OK for a few weeks but started to have trouble swallowing which is a common complication in Alzheimer’s disease. It progressively got worse and he kept saying he was choking and was starting to get very agitated and distressed.

“I asked for him to come on the end-of-life route and that’s where he came into Dougie Mac’s Inpatient Unit. He was in the hospice for three days and we stayed with him all the time.”

During his time in the hospice, Debbie – who lost her husband Mike after a horse-riding accident in 2008 – says her dad was much more comfortable due to the attentiveness and attention to detail from the nursing staff.

She said: “It was like a 5* plus hotel. The cleanliness and attention to detail was second to none and the staff were so attentive. They made sure dad’s comfort – and ours as a family – was a priority. They listened to us and took care of everything.

“I stayed with my dad overnight and they always made me a hot drink and toast – they really were incredible. The hospice is seen by many people as a place to fear because of the association with death, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s about looking after the whole family unit and making the patient and the family feel as comfortable as they possibly can.

“The nurses always kept us informed and when it got to dad’s final hour, they told us to expect it. Mum had left dad’s bedside for a few minutes so one of the nurses actually went looking for her to bring her back as I didn’t want to leave dad’s bedside. Dad passed away peacefully with his family by his side.

“As strange as it sounds my dad, who was 86 when he died, was only in the hospice for a short time, but it was very memorable in the all the best ways because of the way he and the family were looked after. Being in Dougie Mac rather than at home was a beautiful ending to his life. It was a very respectful close to the end of someone’s book.

Debbie was so grateful for the care her dad received that she raised £6,000 from a variety of events including a collection at her dad’s funeral, a ‘Music at the Manor’ event where the community band she plays in entertained a crowd in her garden, and her family also donated a further £3,000 – a £1,000 for each day her dad spent in the hospice.

“The number of people who fundraised for the hospice before we were here made my dad’s stay possible and so we wanted to fundraise to pay it forward and to help look after another family that may need the help we received,” said Debbie. “We will always be grateful.”