Hospice patient raises funds after zoo wish granted

Liene visited Whipsnade Zoo with her son Noah as one of her final wishes

A woman with incurable cancer is raising money for a hospice after it helped her achieve her final wish of visiting a zoo with her son.

Liene, 49, from Watford, was admitted to Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care a few weeks ago after she was told by doctors her metastatic cancer could no longer be treated and that she had days to live.

She told staff she wanted to take her five-year-old son Noah to Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, which was then arranged by the fundraising team.

As a thank-you, Liene organised a charity walk to raise the £5,500 need to cover the cost of her own care.

Noah's favourite animals are elephants, which he met at the zoo

More than 25 people took part in 10-mile (16km) charity walk, which has so far raised about £4,400.

Starting at Amersham railway station in Buckinghamshire, it visited villages across the Chilterns.

Liene's fundraising target is equal to the cost of four weeks' care at the hospice.

"Every person I’ve met here shows kindness," she said.

"People do it with love; from the heart. Staff and volunteers also have time to care.

"The kindness here at Rennie Grove Peace has mentally boosted me."

The 49-year-old joined friends and family on the fundraising walk she organised

She praised her caregivers for organising the Whipsnade trip on which she and Noah fed giraffes, elephants and lemurs.

"Noah loves elephants. They are his favourite animals. He was so excited to see them," she said.

"It was nice for me to see his excitement when he saw the newborn elephant and to see how happy he was.

"It was a really lovely day out. I’m so grateful to the hospice for arranging that for us."

Tracey Hancock, the hospice's director of fundraising, said: “Liene’s wish is to raise funds for Rennie Grove Peace to give something back while she is being cared for in our inpatient unit.

"We call on anyone in the community to give what they can and help Liene achieve her wishes to fundraise, so that more patients can be looked after by us.”