THE WIDOW of a man who died from cancer has raised more than £6,000 for the hospice which gave support during his illness.

Jennie Hanbidge’s husband Dom was diagnosed with stage 4 oesophageal cancer in August 2020. Dom’s condition deteriorated rapidly and he died at home on October 17 last year aged just 48.

The family was supported by the community team from Sue Ryder’s Wheatfields Hospice during Dom’s illness and Jennie has since raised more than £6,000 for the hospice after setting up an Incredible Memories tribute page to Dom. Although only a small number of people could attend the funeral due to Covid 19 restrictions, the tribute page has enabled many more to pay their respects and share their memories of Dom with his family.

A self-employed electrician, Dom was known to many as ‘Disco Dom’ having spent many years as a DJ. He first began to feel unwell in July 2020, after struggling to eat and drink, and was admitted to hospital on August 11.

Jennie said: "A week later they told us it was stage four oesophageal cancer. At that point they were hopeful that with treatment he would have anything from six to 12 months. It was horrendous but we were hopeful he would have a good few months. He had one lot of chemo and he seemed quite well for about five days. We even managed to get the children into the hospital to see him. But he started going downhill again and Dom knew there was something else. He had another scan which revealed secondary cancer, a bowel obstruction, and they said there was nothing more they could do.

"Our six to 12 months then dropped to two weeks so we came home and just did what we could to get things sorted out as quickly as we could. Dom wanted to be at home and it was really good that he was able to be at home. Otherwise the children wouldn’t have seen him because of the Covid restrictions and we wouldn’t have had that time together."

With the support of the District Nurses, the Community team at Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice and a Sue Ryder doctor, Dom was able to spend the last five weeks of his life at home with his family.

When Dom died restrictions meant that just 28 people could attend the funeral but many more wanted to pay their respects. The Incredible Memories Tribute page enabled people to share their memories of Dom with his family and meant that Jennie could share details of the funeral with those who couldn’t attend.

She says: "One of the community fundraisers from Wheatfields suggested setting up the tribute page. I’m not very technical but I thought I would have a look and I realised it was really easy to do. I put some photos on there and started telling family and friends and it went from there. One of Dom’s friends runs a local radio station in Ilkley, where Dom used to live, and he spread the word too. Dom knew so many people there and there were lovely comments from people who remembered him from school or parties he’d DJ’d at.

"As a tool the tribute page was really good because it allowed people to know the songs that we played at the funeral even if they couldn’t be there and people could light a virtual candle for Dom. Under normal circumstances you would have a big funeral and wake and people would talk to you about their memories and maybe show you photos but we weren’t able to do that so it was really nice to have a way of collecting those stories and photos from people who wanted to share their memories of Dom."

Jennie and Dom’s children are just three and seven but Jennie hopes they will also benefit from the tribute page in years to come.

"I have definitely found it useful. There is so much you can do with it. They keep the page up for as long as you want it to be there. People I have not seen for a long time have left some lovely stories about Dom and that will be a nice thing for the children as they get older."

Michelle Darbyshire, Community Fundraiser at Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice, said:“We are so grateful to Jennie and her family and friends for their kind support and for raising an astonishing amount of money in Dom’s memory. This will help us to continue providing our compassionate palliative care and bereavement support and being there when it matters for other local families. Incredible Memories Funds can be a truly special way to celebrate the life of someone who means so much, and do something positive in their name.”

To find out more about setting up an Incredible Memories Fund, visit www.sueryder.org/incredible-memories-funds.