Morecambe couple vow to make difference for Lancaster St John’s Hospice

A Morecambe couple are determined to make a difference for St John’s hospice who looked after their poorly family members in their final moments.
Photo Neil Cross John and Jo Wilson with their daughter Mia, John puts the Christmas lights up every year at Lancaster's St John's Hospice. Jo lost her mum, Chris Furey, at the hospice last year.Photo Neil Cross John and Jo Wilson with their daughter Mia, John puts the Christmas lights up every year at Lancaster's St John's Hospice. Jo lost her mum, Chris Furey, at the hospice last year.
Photo Neil Cross John and Jo Wilson with their daughter Mia, John puts the Christmas lights up every year at Lancaster's St John's Hospice. Jo lost her mum, Chris Furey, at the hospice last year.

John and Jo Wilson, who live on Kingfisher Drive, have raised thousands over the years for the Lancaster hospice.

The Slyne Road hospice has always held a special place in the family’s hearts after Jo experienced first hand the generosity of staff when she lost her mother to cancer this year.

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Jo’s mum, Christine Furey was diagnosed with bladder cancer in September 2013 and passed away in June this year at the age of 68.

Photo Neil Cross
John and Jo Wilson, John puts the Christmas lights up every year at Lancaster's St John's Hospice. Jo lost her mum, Chris Furey, at the hospice last year.Photo Neil Cross
John and Jo Wilson, John puts the Christmas lights up every year at Lancaster's St John's Hospice. Jo lost her mum, Chris Furey, at the hospice last year.
Photo Neil Cross John and Jo Wilson, John puts the Christmas lights up every year at Lancaster's St John's Hospice. Jo lost her mum, Chris Furey, at the hospice last year.

She was well known in the area and was wife of Gerald Furey who owned the fruit and vegetable wholesalers on George Street, Morecambe.

Chris initially went into the hospice for pain management but came out a week later and passed away at home.

Jo said: “We had no idea it was going to end so quickly, it was quite difficult, she was a very strong woman.

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“The hospice themselves were good but what needs a massive shout out is the hospice at home team, I didn’t even know they existed.

“I think the home support team are the unsung heroes, it’s not a job to them, they are in it with their hearts.”

Husband John is an electrician at Bowkers and the company has put up the Christmas lights at the hospice for the past ten years.

John began putting the lights up at the hospice shortly after he lost his sister, Lesley Walker, to pancreatic cancer in 2006. Lesley was just 42 when she passed away leaving behind three boys.

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John said: “I wanted to do the lights because the place means so much to me. Just from working there in a few days watching people come and go, I knew what every person was going in for, it’s not good but it feels like a little community where everyone pulls together.”

The couple have been married for eight years and have supported each other through thick and thin.

John said: “I lost my mum and dad within three weeks of each other last year, I wouldn’t have got through it without Jo. Watching Jo’s mum and my sister go from pretty well to deteriorating is the hardest thing, I don’t think we would have done it without the hospice.”

John and Jo have joined the Born Heroes team for Born Survivor next April to raise money for Lancaster St John’s Hospice. Jo says her goal is to keep her mum’s memory alive and said: “You have got to think about children and to try out of devastation to do something good that can make a difference.”