Sharon Bywater gives her reasons for supporting the protest to have inpatient beds at the Ellen Badger Hospital in Shipston-on-Stour. Sharon's husband Andrew died at the hospital ten years ago and she said had he had to have had his last days further from their home the experience would have been 'hideous' for the family.
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00:00So Sharon, could you tell me your reason for being here today and why you feel so strongly about this?
00:06Yes, so my husband had cancer, brain tumour, and ten years ago he died.
00:12And in the last week of his life, we had to look at options as to where he would die, and I didn't want that to be at home.
00:21I didn't want my children having lasting memories of him dying at home.
00:25The other option was through to a hospice, which is in Warwick, and that's 40-45 minutes from me home.
00:34So the benefit of being in Shipston is that my children, who are aged 10 and 12 at the time,
00:40could pop in and see their dad after school, after clubs, at the weekends, really easily.
00:47They were at two different schools, so I had logistics anyway, and the clubs, I tried to keep their life as normal as possible.
00:53If I'd have had to come to Warwick, it would have been really challenging.
00:56He also nearly died three times, and I had to make that critical rush.
01:02If I'd have come to Warwick, I wouldn't have made it.
01:07So being in Shipston is a mile and a half from home, and we need those beds back.
01:11And the overall point is that you need, yourself and the people of Shipston and nearby, you need a fully functioning hospital.
01:21We do. We want minor injuries back, x-ray, the whole lot. It would be really good.
01:26Thank you. Cheers.