Patients, staff and volunteers at St Richard’s Hospice were treated to a festive surprise visit from paralympian swimmer Claire Cashmore from Kidderminster.
The four times paralympian, 28, chatted to everyone in the Wildwood Drive, Worcester, hospice, shared her experiences of Rio 2016 and happily handed round her gold and silver medals.
The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games saw Claire return home from Brazil as Paralympic Champion in the Women’s 4x100m Medley relay and collect and individual silver in the Women’s SB8 100m Breaststroke. She has won six Paralympic medals, including relay gold at Rio 2016.
Claire said, “It was great to visit St Richard’s Hospice, chat to the patients and see the fantastic work first hand. The patients and staff were extremely welcoming and I was impressed by the positive and cheerful atmosphere.”
St Richard’s Hospice Care Director, June Patel, said, “we felt very privileged to meet Claire and we are grateful for her taking time to visit, chatting about her experiences and learning more about hospice care.”
Mrs Patel added, “Claire was delightful and was very happy for patients, staff and volunteers to try on her medals and have their photo taken with her. Her determination and hard work are a real inspiration.”
St Richard’s Hospice provides free specialist palliative care for patients living with life-limiting illnesses and supports their families. Each year the hospice team supports over 2,500 patients and family members in Worcestershire with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
Patients are cared for in Day Hospice, the 17-bed In-patient Unit or in their own homes by a specialist professional team as well as many trained volunteers.
In the In-patient Unit, specialist staff are on hand 24 hours a day to manage patients’ symptoms and where, if appropriate, patients may spend the last few days of life in comfort and dignity. St Richard’s is an independent charity and is grateful for all donations to help it to continue its work.