A YOUNG girl has raised money for Barnsley Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit after it helped her grandfather in his final days.
Alice Jepson, 11, raised more than £800 by making and selling angel keyrings, and the money has gone towards buying Amazon Kindle tablet computers for use by patients on the ward.
Alice hand-delivered these to the ICU on Monday with mum Katie and grandma Beryl.
Katie Jepson, 38, said the family did not expect the greeting they received at the unit.
“The hospital chairman came down and some of the ward staff.
“I just contacted Lee Jacobs, the nurse who looked after my dad and who I have stayed in contact with since he passed away, and said to watch out for us because we would be popping by.
“I didn’t expect the welcoming committee, I was a bit shocked by it.”
The family undertook a five-mile walk from the home of Stephen Mosley, in Hood Green, to the ICU where he died on October 12 last year aged 64.
Katie said: “My dad was in the ICU last year, he had a brain haemorrhage in October and he passed away four days later.
“Alice wasn’t allowed to see him, as we thought it would be too traumatic for her, but she knew the care and love they gave to my dad.
“Alice and my dad had the most amazing relationship, they used to laugh and joke all the time.
“She said because she never saw him at the end, she wanted to do something in his memory.”
Darton Academy pupil Alice got the idea to make the keyrings after chatting with her mum and grandma in April.
She has since made and sold more than 400 of the angels, which she sold for £2 each.
“At the funeral we took donations, and we took just more than £600,” said Katie, of Barugh Lane.
“She said that wasn’t enough, but at the time she didn’t know what she wanted to do.
“It’s been good because she has an outlet for her grief.
“She’s enjoyed doing it because it’s let her talk about her granddad, it’s been quite therapeutic for her.
“It’s been a really tough year for her but she’s come through the other side.”
Katie said the staff in the ICU were ‘amazing’ and the family wanted to do something that would benefit the unit directly.
“The money from the funeral went into the Barnsley Hospital charity, but we wanted something to go specifically to the ICU,” she said.
“We got in touch with the ward to see what patients would want, as we want to try to help families through the worst times of their lives.”
Overall the family has raised more than £1,500 for the unit.
