Jack's story: Remembering Jemma

Jack’s sister, Jemma, was cared for at Hospice in the Weald at the end of her life. She was incredibly bubbly and known by everyone in Rusthall. The siblings shared a strong bond, a love of tattoos, and spending time together as a family. Here, Jack shares the value of care and support at a difficult time, the importance of events like Hospice Run, and how he’s keeping Jemma’s memory alive. Read and watch the story below…

“Everyone’s always got fond memories of Jemma. We’ve got two park benches for her in Rusthall. Whenever we sit on one, someone will always come over and say we’re sitting on Jemma’s bench. We all talk about Jemma every day. I’ve renamed my tattoo shop after her date of birth, 1709. Keeping someone’s memory alive is very important.

“I did the Hospice Run last year. I’ve never run in my life, furthest I’ve probably run is 100m. And then Mark wanted to do it last year and I couldn’t say no, really. So I said, yeah, okay, if you want and I agreed to do it. I didn’t give it a lot of thought, but, I just thought I’d turn up on the day and have a go. I was surprised I managed to do it. It wasn’t too bad. I thought it was going to be worse, but yeah, we got through it.”

“I don’t know anyone in our family who has a bad word to say about the Hospice. I just think it’s a very important service. It’s a lovely place and I know Jemma loved it there as well.”