Ty Gobaith hospice's special room for parents to say goodbye

Chloe Farrell had holidayed at The Warren on the Lleyn peninsula since she was a child

A woman whose daughter died in a freak accident has spoken of how she said goodbye to her at a specially designed hospice room.

Chloe Farrell, from Colwyn Bay, was 22 when she died in Abersoch, Gwynedd.

She was driving a tractor on a holiday park when the vehicle tipped over and she suffered fatal crush injuries.

Her mother Karen had been distraught at the thought of her daughter lying in a traditional chapel of rest in the days before her funeral.

But she discovered that the Ty Gobaith children's hospital, in the Conwy Valley, now offers the family of any young person aged 25 or younger who dies the chance to use their Snowflake room as a place where family and friends can say their final goodbyes.

"The room is a temperature-controlled room which means the youngsters can stay in this room longer than in an ordinary bedroom," explained Sarah Kearsley-Wooller from Ty Gobaith.

"Quite often they will come to us before their funeral and straight from hospital, perhaps. Or, if it's a family that used the hospice, it may be somebody that's been here and staying with their youngster."

Families can also decorate the bedroom in a way that reflects the interests and life of the young person who has died. They will be dressed in a way that family and friends believe best reflects their personality.

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"She had her jeans and her coat and her bobble hat on," said Karen, recalling the way Chloe was dressed the last time family and friends saw her.

"We brought Ed Sheeran CDs in and Ed Sheeran played constantly throughout the day.

"And all Chloe's favourite candles - she loved pomegranate candles - and they burned constantly in the room.

"It was exactly her own bedroom situation."

Karen Farrell in the garden at Ty Gobaith

Ironically, Karen and Chloe had raised thousands of pounds for Ty Gobaith over the years.

But Karen had not realised that the Snowflake room was available to the wider community. Like many others, she thought the facilities at Ty Gobaith were only for the families of children with terminal illnesses or those children not expected to live into adulthood.

Being able to take Chloe to the hospice after she died in May last year made a huge difference, she said. She remained there for three days and two nights,

"We were able to use the facilities and the garden here just like we would have done at home," said Karen.

"There must have been 30 or 40 people here at times. The garden was full of laughter. One of Chloe's friends, - Joe, he heard me being physically sick and screaming the day before.

"And, the following day, we were at Ty Gobaith and he saw me laughing and joking and at ease, with family and friends around us.

"I think the mere fact of thinking of Chloe going to a chapel of rest or a funeral home was actually unbearable to me."

Karen Farrell and Sarah Kearsley-Wooller

But while Ty Gobaith can offer a special room for the person who has died, there is no other indoor space for relatives and friends to use, other than a small garden adjacent garden.

Now an appeal has begun to try to raise £50,000 to provide a place they can use.

It's a campaign that Karen is backing because of the difference Ty Gobaith made to her and her family.

"We said goodbye in the right way. I didn't go to the chapel of rest after Chloe left here. We all said our goodbyes here. I was comforted by that," she added.

"To see your 22-year-old daughter in a chapel of rest is just something that no parent should ever have to go through."