Colleen | St John Hill, Manawatū-Whanganui

“My mum, who’s almost 90 had a fall at home, and broke three ribs, and ended up in hospital for five weeks, and gratefulness doesn’t really describe how I feel about the people that looked after her.

She was admitted to Taranaki Base Hospital, and it was marvellous. Absolutely marvellous. So, she’s home now, and a lot slower than she was, but she’s home, and she’s well. She’s been a widow for 14-15 years, and she married my dad when she was 18. She’s been a hard worker, and a mum of three girls, who she knitted for and sewed for, and stayed up all night making Christmas presents for. Salt of the earth, really. Hard working mum.

She lives in New Plymouth, and I’m in Whanganui, and it takes me two hours to get there, and sometimes it’s too long. But I look at my other members of my family that fill in the gaps, and I’m very grateful for them. All around Taranaki, I’ve got lots and lots of cousins, and although she’s the last elder of our family, all my cousins and her nieces and nephews just love her to bits. So, we’re not on our own as it were and I always feel grateful for my family.

At the hospital, the people would recognise her name from around the coast, and her parents, and her brothers and her sisters would make themselves known. They were people that worked at the hospital, physiotherapists, and social workers. The social worker was new. Her dad knew my mum and dad years and years ago, and I think it just made her feel enveloped, that there were so many people that appreciated where she’d come from and what everybody meant to her. I think it made her feel quite settled and comfortable. 

I was actually born in New Plymouth, the eldest of three, lived in Taranaki until I was 17, and I came to Whanganui to go nursing. Upon marriage, we left, but once our boys were old enough to go to school, we came back to Whanganui. It’s great, and in 10 minutes you can go anywhere in this city. Every sport, anything the kids want to do, it’s a great place.”