12 April 2023
The late Heidi MacRae had always been a very organised person. So, it was only fitting that when the well-respected North Shore GP was facing the end of life in 2022, following a breast cancer diagnosis in 2021, she assigned jobs to the people she loved.
Her sister Wendy she asked to look after Mum and Dad. Her closest friends, to look out for her three children. And of her mother, Christine Miller, she asked that she make sure future Harbour Hospice patients had quilts for their beds.
Heidi had been cared for in her final days by Harbour Hospice North Shore and had learned from the nurses that people had stopped donating quilts for patients since North Shore had temporarily closed for a major redevelopment in 2021.
“And Heidi just said to me, ‘Mum, make it happen,'" says Christine, who belongs to a quilting group, the Sew n Sews.
"So I phoned one of the other ladies and an email went round the Sew n Sews and before you knew it the others were bringing in half-done quilts or pooling their efforts and now here we are,” she says.
This week Christine and the Sew n Sews presented 20 beautiful quilts to the North Shore hospice team. Each was made with love over many hours, and has the words Made with love by the Sew n Sews for Harbour Hospice written in fabric pen along one edge.
Harbour Hospice Volunteer Services Manager Vicki Parker says the hospice nurses “really enjoy getting to know their patients and choosing a quilt for them that best matches their personality”.
“And these very special quilts are treasured by those who receive them and become very important to the family after their loved one has died,” she says.
Heidi had been so impressed by her care at Harbour Hospice she had written an open letter about it, which was published in the Devonport Flagstaff just days before she died in November 2022.
"I need to tell our community how amazing hospice is. Even with the close working relationship I had and appreciated with hospice as a GP, I had absolutely no idea how it injects so much quality of life, love and laughter back into a life," she wrote.
“The nurses here are all angels. They take time to care, laugh and smile with me and my family. They do everything with love and compassion. It is incredibly humbling.”
Christine says she was especially appreciative that the family could be with Heidi at any time, and that Heidi’s dog, Perrita, was always welcome too.
The Sew n Sews (l-r): Diana Bennett, Lynne Johnson, Christine Miller and Christine Brockes (absent were Dr Rowan Stephens and Gail Kean)
The quilts were blessed by Volunteer Services Manager Vicki Parker
