As a senior nurse at Marie Curie in North Yorkshire, Susan Ebbage is responsible for supporting both the charity’s staff and patients.

Ms Ebbage allocates nurses to patients after receiving daily updates on their health.

The nurses then visit the patient’s home, introduce themselves to the family and care for their loved one overnight, usually from 10pm to 7am.

Ms Ebbage, who works regularly across the Harrogate district, said:

“This allows the families to have some rest. Patients are reassured by their presence and family members are able to go to sleep. It’s an incredibly emotional time and therefore you can’t put a price on a night’s sleep.

“A lot of the families, particularly in Harrogate, live abroad and that can be horrible for them. It’s about identifying situations like this and trying to give them support where we can.”

Twenty five years

Ms Ebbage has been working in her current role for around eight years and has been with Marie Curie for 25 years.

She lives in the Yorkshire Dales, and while her role is often administrative, she still visits patients in the area when she is needed.

She said:

“I trained at the Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) and was a community midwife. I always loved patient care. I love being able to support them and helping them be able to become independent and regain control. These are all things as human beings we dread being taken away from us.

“If people are dying or ill, I like being able to take good care of them so they don’t feel like a burden.”

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Ms Ebbage said a highlight of her Job was working with families who clearly love the person they are looking after.

But she added that there were also difficult issues that had to be dealt with.

‘Sorrows, sadness and regrets’

She said:

“I never tire of seeing families care for their own well. I get upset when I see families who aren’t interested. But you have to try and understand what has gone on. You listen to sorrows, sadness and regrets.

“We talk to people who tell us quite dark things at times. We have to ask them what to do with that. That might involve getting a minister to go and see them.

“We also have to keep an eye out for safeguarding. It’s not just about abuse or cruelty. Some are difficult to spot straight away. We have to make a case and follow that through.”

Ms Ebbage said the work of Marie Curie was really important.

She added:

“We have struggled like may other charities over the last two years. The nurses have been outstanding. Up to 300 nurses go out seven nights a week across the country.”

Co-ordinated approach

Ms Ebbage explained that the charity worked in conjunction with Saint Michael’s Hospice in the Harrogate area. They have meetings three times a week and share patients. Marie Curie also works with services and charities including Harrogate end of life co-ordination, NHS Continuing Healthcare and Macmillan Cancer Support.

She said:

“We have a co-ordinated approach to care in the Harrogate district. It’s really important and we have got that down to a fine T. In Harrogate there are a lot of care providers. This ensures people get the most appropriate care they need and we are not wasting resources.

Fundraiser

The Marie Curie Brain Game is returning to Yorkshire for a fourth time on Thursday, January 26 and for the first time in Harrogate in the newly refurbished Majestic Hotel & Spa.

Guests will be treated to a drinks reception before enjoying a gourmet three-course dinner. The celebrity-hosted quiz will run throughout the evening and guests will also have the opportunity to bid for exclusive lots in the live and silent auctions, and win prizes in the grand raffle.

This black-tie event invites companies from across Yorkshire to come and enjoy an evening of brain-teasing entertainment and battle it out in the ultimate corporate quiz to be crowned Yorkshire Brain Game champions.

To book a table, click here.

A charity tractor fest in Ripon has raised £4,000 for the Leeds General Infirmary Neonatal Unit.

It was organised by Tom Tate after his newborn son recently spent time in intensive care at LGI with a life-threatening condition.

Mr Tate’s partner Sarah gave birth to their son, Freddie, three-and-a-half months ago.

But soon afterwards he was diagnosed with Atrial flutter, a type of abnormal heart rhythm that makes the heart beat too quickly.

Mr Tate said it was a frightening time for the family. He said:

“When he was born straight away we knew something wasn’t right. In a baby, Atrial flutter is life threatening.

“But after two weeks in intensive care at the LGI, they got him right, and they looked after me and Sarah.”

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Freddie is thankfully now at home and fighting fit, but his dad said he wanted to repay the hospital by raising money for the LGI Neonatal Unit through the Leeds Hospitals Charity.

Mr Tate is a member of West Yorkshire Tractor and Engine Club and around 80 vintage and modern tractors from the club attended F. Tate and Sons garden centre at Studley Road on September 24. It was also attended by the Yorkshire Vet, Peter Wright.

A total of £4,000 was raised, which will be used to transform the corridors in the neonatal ward. They have been renamed the ‘corridors of courage’ and will include pictures and stories to help other families through their hard times.

Mr Tate said:

“I’m absolutely amazed at how the day went. Massive thank-you to everyone who attended and donated, helping us raise a massive £4,000 for the LGI neonatal unit. It’s such an overwhelming feeling to gi\ve a huge amount of money to an excellent cause.”

A Ripon dad is hosting a charity Tractor Fest after his newborn son recently spent time in intensive care at Leeds General Infirmary with a life-threatening condition.

Tom Tate’s partner Sarah gave birth to their son, Freddie, three-and-a-half months ago.

But soon after he was born he was diagnosed with Atrial flutter, a type of abnormal heart rhythm that makes the heart beat too quickly.

Mr Tate said it was a frightening time for the family. He said:

“When he was born straight away we knew something wasn’t right. In a baby, Atrial flutter is life threatening.

“But after two weeks in intensive care at the LGI, they got him right, and they looked after me and Sarah.”

Freddie is thankfully now at home and fighting fit, but his dad said he wanted to repay the hospital by raising money for the LGI Neonatal Unit through the Leeds Hospitals Charity.

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Mr Tate is a member of West Yorkshire Tractor and Engine Club and around 80 vintage and modern tractors from the club will be attending F. Tate and Sons garden centre at Studley Road on September 24.

The charity tractor fest will also include a raffle with prizes up for grabs including an overnight stay at Grantley Hall. Entry is free but visitors are encouraged to make a donation.

Mr Tate added:

“We’re really pushing it to raise a lot of money for the charity. We definitely want to make it an annual thing.”

In a first media interview since their youngest daughter Lucie suffered catastrophic injuries in a roadside accident, parents Sue and Rocky Maguire have told the Stray Ferret how they and all their family are focused on the future.

The accident on 27 January, saw the nursery school assistant lose her right leg, hip and pelvis.

Lucie, who had her 20th birthday last month, has undergone extensive surgery, with more operations to follow.

In a FaceTime call from her bed at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) she said:

“I’d like to thank all the people who have helped me over the past nine months and also those who have sent such lovely messages of support.”

Back home in Kirkby Malzeard, regulars at the Queen’s Head, have a constant reminder of the ongoing effort, that will help her to rebuild her life when she gets out of hospital.

A pale ale called Our Girl Lucie, produced by Wensleydale Brewery, raises money with every pint that is pulled, while a GoFundMe page set up by close family friend Helen Walford, has already raised almost £40,000.

Sue and Rocky Maguire at the bar in the Queen’s Head, where the Our Girl Lucie pale ale is on sale

Sue, who runs the village pub with her husband, has constantly been at their daughter’s side at both the LGI and St James’s Hospital, Leeds.

She said:

“Lucie is a remarkable person and her fighting spirit helped her to pull through when we were fearing the worst.

“She has undergone numerous operations and has more to follow and has shown incredible courage.”

After the accident, she was initially taken to the LGI before being transferred to St James’s and is now back at the LGI.

Rocky said:

“The care that she has received at both hospitals has been world-class and we thank everybody, not only for the way that they have looked after Lucie, but also the kindness they have shown to us.”

There has been daily contact via FaceTime, while he and eldest daughter Zanne have handled the day to day running of the pub and Sue has been in Leeds.

At a challenging time for the hospitality sector, with covid lockdowns and lost income, the Maguires have had other misfortune.

Rocky suffered a mini stroke in August and had to be rushed into hospital and before that, Sue was in pain for weeks on her visits to Lucie, after breaking her right foot in an accident while staying overnight at a Leeds hotel.

Both are now recovered, but Sue pointed out:

“We have all been under a lot of stress, but are staying positive.

“There’s no point in looking back, so we are planning for the future, thinking about fundraising activities that will enable us to provide a living space and facilities adapted for Lucie’s needs.”

Lucie is also looking ahead, with plans to write a book.

She said:

“I would like to share my experiences and hope it will help others on their way to recovery.”

This year the Harrogate Harriers will use money raised to support the cardiac unit at Leeds General Infirmary, which saved the life of club member Rob Athey.

Mr Athey, 48, who lives in Harrogate, survived an alarming chain of events that started with a grazed knee last autumn and resulted in life-saving heart surgery and a two-month hospital stay.

He said:

“I do a lot of off-road running so I picked up a graze on my knee, which caused me to contract a blood infection called endocarditis. That took over my body and damaged my heart valve. Some of the heart valve came away, causing a blood clot, and then I suffered a stroke on the back of that.

“Then it came to light that I needed open-heart surgery to actually replace the heart valve.

“I got tested positive for covid as well, which meant that when they performed the open-heart surgery – because they have to stop your heart to work on it – it was touch and go. Basically, they actually saved my life.”

Harrogate Harriers club member Rob Athey. He will run this summer’s 10k event to raise funds for LGI’s cardiac unit.

Mr Athey, who went back to work for Lloyds Banking Group in March, added:

“It’s life-changing. Life will never be the same again, but I’m so grateful for LGI for treating me. The NHS are fantastic, Harrogate ambulance service were fantastic in getting me there for all my procedures that I needed.

“I’m now recovering and I’m back trying to do a bit of running, although I can’t do too much. Because I’m a member of Harrogate Harriers I’d like to raise money for the cardiac unit at the LGI and (club chair Adam Prentis) said ‘yes, fantastic, we’d love to support that cause’.”

He has been running 5k distances as part of his training and is aiming to get around the 10k route in an hour – but insisted that his main motivation was completing the course and raising money.

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The undulating route in the Crimple Valley, south-east of the town, will start and finish at Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre, next to the Great Yorkshire Showground. Although it is described as multi-terrain, 70% of the single lap is on roads.

Runners on the Run Harrogate 10k course through the Crimple Valley in 2019. Photo: Dan Oxtoby Photography

So far the 10k event is only at half capacity, with 428 places out of 1,000 still up for grabs. The entry fee is £17 for UK athletics club members and £19 for non-members.