Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Remarkable’ Aberdeen care visitors hailed as 84-year-old moves to nursing home

Staff from Aberness have been at Mattie Dunnachie's side since they found her in distress at her home in Bucksburn.

Mattie Dunnachie
Doctors did not know if Mattie was going to make it until Christmas.

When Linda Phillips heard that her mother, Mattie, had been taken into hospital after being found by carers covered in blood on the floor, she felt helpless being more than 500 miles away.

Linda, 64, lives in London as a TV production manager, and finds it hard being away from her 84-year-old mum, who lives in Aberdeen, at the best of times.

But she need not have feared that her mum would be alone at her darkest moment, as Mattie Dunnachie’s band of loyal carers sprang into action to help.

After carers from Aberness found Mattie in despair at home on December 11, they quickly called 999 and have been by her side since.

Mattie Dunnachie
Mattie has been in the safe hands of Aberness staff since 2020.

‘We thought she wasn’t going to make it to Christmas’

Linda has relied completely on the team at Aberness to provide care for her mum since 2020.

“My dear mum was found on the floor, covered in blood from head to foot, and she was vomiting everywhere,” she said.

“The Aberness team stayed with her until the ambulance arrived and got her to hospital.

“On Friday we thought she wasn’t going to survive. We thought she’s not going to make it through until Christmas Day.

“I ended up setting up a WhatsApp group containing all her carers because they were all so concerned about her, even when she was out of their hands. They go above and beyond.

“Because I live so far away, they organised clothes to be taken to hospital as well as food and drinks.

Mattie Phillips
Mattie celebrated her birthday last Wednesday.

“I feel that there is so much negative news nowadays, but these people are doing something positive.

“They need to be applauded because someone needs to be recognised for they great work they do.”

Mattie has battled cancer since 2019

Mattie, who is originally from Glasgow but has lived in the Granite City since the 1970s where she had a newsagent on Bon Accord Street, has dementia and was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2019.

Mattie Dunnachie
Doctors were unsure if Mattie was going to be able to make it to Christmas.

Linda full of praise for care heroes

Due to her health issues, Mattie met staff at Aberness who work tirelessly to make her as comfortable as possible.

“They have ensured that my mother is safe, and is in the best situation at home as possible after her cancer and dementia diagnoses,” she said.

“The care manager, Jodie Kynoch, has been exceptional heading up the operation.

“The carer that I also feel has done more than anybody else is called Chantelle Lee – she was instrumental in replacing things in her flat after her accidents.

“But there are too many to mention such as Kayleigh and Lauren as well. They go above and beyond.

“They’re all remarkable.”

Despite thinking that her mother would not make it past Christmas Day, Linda is so grateful that her mum is still battling on and will be transferred to Woodlands Care Home before December 25.

She said: “I want to say a big thank you to the team at Aberness since they got involved with my mum in 2020.

“I cannot commend them highly enough.”