Bride's 'best present'

Steve Jones, 55, of Newport, was diagnosed with prostate cancer 11 years ago. After being admitted to St Mary’s Hospital in severe pain, Steve was later transferred to Mountbatten where the medical team controlled his symptoms sufficiently well that he could attend his daughter’s wedding.  

Steve said: “Everyone knew about the wedding the minute I got here and, although it had nothing to do with my medical treatment, the immediate focus was to get me to the wedding; they knew it was very important to me. That night, for the first night in years, I slept for about ten hours.” 

With the support of Mountbatten medical, pharmacy and nursing staff, and with his pain under control, Steve was ready for the forthcoming nuptials; “I felt so well, just after that night’s sleep, I got up and had almost no pain at all. I made it to my daughter’s wedding, walked her down the aisle and stood up to make a ten-minute speech. Everyone said the transformation was incredible and I don’t think I would have made it to the wedding without the support of the staff and volunteers. 

“It was the best moment of my life and I can’t thank everyone enough for it, it was such a gift. Everyone was saying that the best present my daughter could have had was my being there. It was incredibly moving, it was wonderful,” Steve added. 

Steve admits that, before his recent experience at Mountbatten Hospice, he was among those who didn’t understand that the hospice ward is also a place for respite and rehabilitation:

I didn’t realise a lot of the work done here is about getting you better, so you can transition back to life but with having that support there, so if things are bad you can get help again. I’m just blown away by all the volunteers who give up their time freely. They probably think of themselves as average people, but they are remarkable – the dedication and the fact that nothing is too much trouble.