Facing my fears in memory of mum

On Saturday 23 July, Luisa Gould, 49, from Hove, will be facing her fear of heights and taking on a 15,000ft skydive to raise funds for St Barnabas House – the hospice who cared for her Mum, Tricia, when she died in July 2021.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” says Luisa. “But I wanted to do something for my mum. She spent her whole life putting others first, and now I want to put her front and centre. I know she’d be so proud of me for facing my fears and raising funds for St Barnabas – plus, she’d think I was a bit crazy!

“Put simply, my mum was the most incredible woman you’d ever meet. She was kind and caring, and so generous with her love and time. She wasn’t only the perfect mum, but also the perfect nanna to her grandchildren,” continues Luisa. “We were so lucky to have her in our lives.”

In May 2021, Tricia had a persistent cough which was diagnosed as acid reflux. “We thought nothing more of it and carried on with our lives as normal,” says Luisa. “But then, mum found a lump. She went to see her GP and they immediately referred her for investigations. Two weeks later we found out it was cancer.”

Tricia then underwent chemotherapy, but the cancer was too aggressive, and her tumours continued to grow. “The chemotherapy started to make mum feel incredibly unwell, so they decided to stop all treatment and give her end-of-life care.”

It was at this difficult time that the family were referred to St Barnabas House hospice. “All you ever want is for your loved ones to be as comfortable as possible at the end of their lives,” says Luisa. “The minute Mum went into St Barnabas House you could see the weight lifted off her shoulders. She became instantly relaxed. The quality of care that they gave her was incredible, and nothing was ever too much trouble for them. Everyone was so kind.”

On 26 July 2021, at the age of 74, Tricia sadly passed after spending a week at St Barnabas House. “This was a big shock to us all as from diagnosis to the end, it was less than three months. I can’t put into words how much the support from St Barnabas House meant to us at that time.”