Marie Curie stories
It's always great to build your talk around your own experiences of Marie Curie. But if you're not comfortable with that, or you feel your talk could benefit from a wider variety of examples, you might find these stories from others helpful.
Stories from people who've received our care
Chris and Erin
Chris’s wife Erin was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014 and died three years later, leaving Chris to care for their three children. He tells us how the family have coped with their painful loss.
Jackie and Kathleen
Jackie Stacey’s Mum Kathleen died of Alzheimer’s, aged 78. Kathleen spent 10 days on a busy hospital ward at the end, to the distress of her family who felt powerless to get her somewhere more peaceful.
Jason and Liz
Jason may be living with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and virtually paralysed. But July 2017, accompanied by his wife Liz, and with the aid of his trusty 4x4 all-terrain wheelchair (aka ‘the Terminator’), he successfully reached the summit of 3,560 foot Mount Snowdon.
Lorraine
Lorraine Cox, 39, from Derrylin in Enniskillen, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) last summer. She applied for Personal Independence Payments to help with the impact of the disease on her day-to-day life and, to her shock, was declined.
Sue and Stanley
Stanley Hinchliffe is remembered at the Marie Curie Hospice, Bradford as a character – he loved a drop of whiskey and made marmalade for the nurses. It was something he and his wife, Audrey, had always done together. Their daughter, Sue, explains how Marie Curie got Stanley back on his feet after Audrey’s death, and helped make his final months extra special.
Sandra
Sandra, from Sully, Wales, who looks after her mum at home, explains why the Marie Curie Support Line is such an important service.
Stories from our nurses
Nurse Alison
Marie Curie Nurse Alison Divers lost a nine-month-old child and had cervical cancer in her twenties, leading to a life-changing operation in her thirties. Now in her forties, she draws on her own experiences of loss and suffering to support others.
Nurse Marlene
Marlene worked in nursing homes for 23 years before becoming a Marie Curie Nurse. At the beginning of her nursing career, she was terrified when she encountered death. But now she's realised that death is a part of living.
Poetry
Five poems of comfort for those grieving a loss
Extracts from poems relating to grief, loss and love, along with links to the full poems. You might find reading one of these helps to engage your audience with Marie Curie's cause.
Voices from Marie Curie Hospice, Hampstead
A book of poems by Kristina Howell, Poet-in-Residence at the Marie Curie Hospice, Hampstead. The poems were inspired by her visits to the hospice and the people she met. Includes illustrations by Christina Ayckbourn.
