Mark's Painting
The following article is reproduced with kind permission from Sue Ryder Care - Manorlands Hospice.
"Mark Swift from Keighley was 44 when he died in August 2007 after losing his battle with cancer.
He was first diagnosed with testicular cancer twenty two years ago, but luckily his cancer had been in remission for several years.
His wife, Annette Swift, said: "It was a real shock for us all when Mark was re diagnosed with cancer over two years ago. We were very frightened as this time it seemed immediately clear that his cancer was already at an advanced stage affecting his stomach."
"Initially we didn't look for help at Sue Ryder Care - Manorlands Hospice as we hoped that Mark would recover over time. But, when his condition started getting worse, we decided to visit the hospice and immediately realised that here he could have received the care he needed. We were not aware of the day therapy sessions run by the hospice."
Mark started coming to Manorlands Hospice as an outpatient for visits with doctors, to receive complimentary therapies including aroma therapy or reflexology and take part in daily activities, such as the art classes Steve Davies runs every week.
"He always loved watercolours, but he had never had too much time to dedicate to painting. He liked working with Steve, he is a great art teacher and Mark felt challenged by him."
"Mark used to love taking part in the day activities run at Manorlands Hospice and he really liked painting. He was very talented and progressed very quickly" Julia O'Neil, Day Therapy Manager at the hospice explained, "he used to come two to three times a week. He could free his mind and forget about his pains for a while."
Mark's son Ben, 15, and his daughter Jodie, 17, were happy when their dad was at the hospice as they knew that meeting other people with the same condition helped him to find the energy to fight it.
"Mark was an incredible guy, he was an ambassador for Manorlands Hospice. He did whatever he could to support the hospice. He organised many events to raise funds. He actively tried to change people's perceptions about hospices, especially with regard to young people as most of them think that a hospice is a place where someone comes to die."
"He felt safe here, he had a reason to wake up in the morning and wanted to share his experience with younger people as they are more reluctant to look for help or think they can't find anything for them at a hospice. He wanted to help people understand that they could find the help they were looking for by coming here. He customised his scooter and placed the Sue Ryder Care logo on the front, that he handcrafted himself and painted, and used to go around Keighley with it to raise awareness of the charity."
"He thought that Art Liberating Lives was a great initiative as it helped patients to focus and create a piece of art for a purpose" Julia said, "I want to make sure that the watercolour he painted will be exhibited at the Mall Galleries in London. This is our way to say thank you for everything he did. He always helped other patients when they were feeling down. He was a very caring and compassionate man and a great support for the group."
"In the last weeks Mark was very poorly, he had lost lots of weight because of chemotherapy, but whenever he was able to, he was going to Manorlands Hospice to attend the art classes."
"His painting was inspired by our last boat trip at Ilkley, a view from the boat of a bridge. I am very proud of him and I know he painted it in his last days when he was very poorly and his eyes were not very sharp. He knew he wouldn't have had a chance to go to London to see the exhibition, but he wanted to contribute to it. He painted a wonderful watercolour and I will be very delighted to see it on display with the other paintings created by the groups."
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