Eye-gaze technology lets Gill express her thanks to St Catherine’s Hospice

Gill Atkinson used the magic of eye-gaze technology from her bed to describe how St Catherine’s Hospice has helped her.

Motor Neurone Disease has deprived the Penwortham grandmother of her speech, so she converts tiny movements of her eyes into spoken words.

Gill, who spent four weeks as an inpatient at St Catherine’s in Lancashire, spoke in glowing terms, via her computer screen, of the care she received before moving into a nursing home.

Mum-of-two and grandma-of-one Gill, who was diagnosed in May 2016, said: “I can’t praise the hospice highly enough and the care has been excellent. The staff are wonderful and I’ve been really impressed by the whole experience.

“It’s been so uplifting and I’ve had a hairdresser and therapeutic massages. I’ll be sad to leave.”

Husband Mark, who has spent most of the time by his wife’s bedside in a private room, echoed his wife’s sentiments about the hospice.

He said: “Our perception was that St Catherine’s was simply for end-of-life. The hospice has stabilised Gill’s pain levels which were up and down before she came here, and the excellent attitude and approach of the staff has also been very important. Until we arrived we didn’t know the breadth of what the hospice has to offer.”

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