A Highland Hospice fundraiser said yesterday that her daughter, who died from cancer, would be looking down on the new unit and saying: “Nice one, mum.”
Emily Beavis and her family and friends have been helping raise money for the project since her daughter Dawn Beavis-Macdonald passed away, aged 36, in the old inpatient unit in April 2013.
Dawn, a mother-of-two, married her long-term partner Wesley in the hospice two weeks before she died of cancer.
Emily, from Barbaraville in Easter Ross, toured the newly-rebuilt centre with her other daughter Emma yesterday, having raised thousands of pounds for the rebuild, including holding two “Dance for Dawn” events.
“My husband said she will be up there looking down on us saying ‘nice one, mum’,” she said.
Asked about the care her daughter received, she said: “I’m welling up just thinking about it.
“It’s hugely, hugely important to us. The staff, the care… and it’s not just for the patient, it’s for the whole family. I can’t stress enough how good it is.
“It’s an extremely difficult journey and I think when I look back at the care, it helped us, my family.”
Dawn’s sister Emma and her mother were impressed with the new facilities.
“It’s bright, modern, spacious, much bigger than it was before, and light. It will be really nice for patients,” said Emma.
“A friend once said to us ‘you come to the hospice to live’.
“A lot of people think you come to the hospice to die, but you don’t, you come to live.”
Emily said: “To me it’s the private rooms, because that is what is essential.
“My daughter actually got married here in her dressing gown. Anything and everything you suggest, they will do it for you.
“These things are extremely special and that is what the hospice does.”