Donna Parsons

“My husband had a brain hemorrhage a few months ago that required him to be air-ambulanced to Miami. He had two emergency surgeries which left him unable to take care of himself or walk on his own. After some initial progress he unfortunately had a relapse and was paralysed from the neck down, unable to eat, and required rehospitalisation.

“When he was able to return home, our usual bed posed a big problem – trying to get him to sit up was such a task. I just kept saying ‘I wish we had a hospital bed’. At first I thought we would have to buy a bed because the hospital did not provide aftercare services, and finding another way to get a bed was extremely difficult. Eventually we got a referral to the Cancer Society, where we were informed we could rent a bed temporarily for a minimal fee.

“Since I have had the bed it has been such a saviour for us; it was so much easier with the hospital bed to change and feed him, and roll him over when we needed to. Initially I was so overwhelmed with how I would take care of him at home, constantly asking ‘how do I do this and that’? After getting help from the Cancer Society I didn’t have to worry about those details anymore – they even had someone come to deliver and set up the bed for us. If it wasn’t for getting assistance from the Cancer Society, I don’t know what we would have done. This bed was such a help financially, and with reducing the stress of my husband’s illness. I was so thrilled with the service that once we returned the bed I donated the rental deposit back to the Cancer Society to support this programme. Now my husband is on the road to recovery and I know the Cancer Society’s equipment rental played a big role in that.”