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Jane Tomlinson's gift to Leeds hospice
Jane Tomlinson's widower is backing an appeal in aid of the Leeds hospice where he said his final farewell to his beloved wife.
On an emotional first visit to St Gemma's since Jane died, Mike handed over a cheque for 37,500.
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The donation will kick-start a 339,000 campaign to
refurbish the 20 patient bedrooms, one of which is where Jane spent her last days with her husband and three children.
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Mike said: "Jane spent the last three weeks of her life at
St Gemma's. She died peacefully and the care was brilliant, we couldn't have asked for more.
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"But we were aware of some of the shortcomings in the rooms.
"When the chance came to help instantly there was no question that we would."
Mike, 49, from Rothwell, says he has intense memories of the time Jane spent at the hospice before she died in 2007. He said: "I feel a bit numb coming back. I used to hate coming here. I felt sick pulling up in the car because I knew that every day Jane would have deteriorated a bit more.
"It has been difficult coming back because of the memories, but you just have to pull yourself together and get on with things.
"It's not about me, it's about being able to benefit other families who are losing a loved one of their own."
Altogether, St Gemma's, in Moortown, wants to spend 735,000 renovating the bedrooms.
The Department of Health has contributed 396,000.
Among the improvements it wants to make are new patient hoists, better privacy, upgraded bathrooms, new entertainment systems and measures to reduce the risk of infection.
The donation from the Jane Tomlinson Appeal will pay for the whole refurbishment of one room. The hospice plans to dedicate it to Jane's memory.
St Gemma's chief executive Bill Kilgallon said: "We are immensely grateful to Mike Tomlinson and all at the appeal for the generous donation which will certainly benefit our patients."
The work will take place in eight phases so the hospice can continue to provide its vital free end of life care. It is hoped it will be completed by April.
Jane died in September 2007 after a seven-year battle with terminal breast cancer. When she was diagnosed in 2000, doctors gave her just six months to live.
She went on to complete a series of remarkable physical challenges,
including triathlons and cycling across America, and raised more than 1.5m for charity. Her family have set themselves a fundraising target of 5m.
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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