Woman joins starlight walk for charity which cared for her husband

A WOMAN from Goring is taking part in a sponsored hike in the memory of her late husband.

Samantha Saye, 46, will join hundreds of others at the Sue Ryder Starlight Hike Thames Valley this evening (Saturday).

The event will take place in the grounds of Pangbourne College and the walkers will complete 5km in order to raise money for the palliative care charity.

Mrs Saye’s husband, Ivan Hooker, died in September 2020, aged 44, after being diagnosed with stage four sinus cancer three years before.

She said: “Ivan was always fit and healthy and regularly participated in his two passions of surfing and cycling, so it really came out of the blue when he got such a serious diagnosis.

“In the early stages we were all a bit shell shocked but the team at Sue Ryder palliative care hub South Oxfordshire were brilliant in providing us with some extra support, which was really helpful as we had very young children.” Although Mr Hooker initially responded well to treatment, his health started to deteriorate towards the end of 2019 and he was rushed to hospital after losing the vision in his left eye.

It was found that the cancer had spread and in March 2020, just before the coronavirus outbreak, he went into hospital for extensive brain surgery which had to be scaled back as surgeons discovered the cancer was a lot worse than scans had indicated.

Mrs Saye said: “At that stage Ivan was given months to live and it was in the April when he was discharged from the hospital that our real journey with Sue Ryder began.

“It was really challenging for everyone as we were now in the first covid lockdown and Ivan was no longer able to walk and required 24-hour assistance.

“The Sue Ryder team were amazing in providing care and support and arranged all the equipment that we needed to help make him comfortable at home.

“The nurses visited us three times a day to care for Ivan and support me as I also had our two children at home because the pre-schools and schools were closed.

“It was a very intense time and they always went above and beyond to help us.

“I was very conscious that despite the awful situation we found ourselves in, it was important to continue to make happy family memories together while we could, so I always tried to organise special things for the children and Ivan.

“In June 2020 we had an extra special early Christmas for Ivan as it was his favourite time of the year.

“The Sue Ryder nurses were brilliant — they came to the house with tinsel, brought baubles for the children to put on the tree and sang Christmas songs. We all really got into the spirit and Ivan loved it.

“In the September my daughter started primary school and the Sue Ryder team put in place a special timetable so that I was able to take her for her first day and that continued until Ivan died a few weeks later. They were so accommodating and they knew what was important to us.

“Having the support of Sue Ryder was vital as it meant that Ivan was able to stay at home, which is where he wanted his final days to be.

“It would have been a very different situation if he had been in hospital and we couldn’t see him because of pandemic restrictions.

“Although it was not easy seeing their daddy so poorly at home, the children were able to spend precious time with him throughout the day, sharing meals, watching TV, listening to music together, reading bedtime stories and being able to say goodnight to each other.

“The Sue Ryder team always treated him as a regular individual, not just someone who was really unwell, and Ivan enjoyed chatting with the nurses and built up a real rapport with them.

“The physiotherapists helped him to get out into the garden in a wheelchair and feel the sun on his face, have an ice cream and listen to the children play in the garden, which were his favourite days.

“They helped us to do normal everyday things as a family and celebrate birthdays and other special occasions, even though it wasn’t a normal time.”

Mrs Saye will be joined for the hike by her children William, 10, and Eleanor, six, and four other families, who have named their team “Ivan’s Immortals”.

Registration starts at 6.30pm with pre-walk entertainment followed by a fun warm-up. At 8pm walkers sporting fancy dress, flashing headwear and neon face paint will set off.

You can sign up on the night for £20 for adults and £6 for children aged six to 12. Children under five go free.

To make a donation, visit
justgiving.com/fundraising/
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