Helping Mercy Palliative Care patients to live life fully and comfortably is at the heart of the work that compassionate and supportive volunteers like Mary Frisby passionately carry out.
Mary has been volunteering with Mercy Palliative Care for more than 10 years. For the 82-year-old former nurse, who was trained at Mercy Private Hospital during the 1950s, the volunteer work she has been involved with over the past decade has been as important and rewarding as any paid role.
Mercy Palliative Care Volunteer Mary Frisby
“It’s extremely rewarding work,” Mary says. “Moving towards the end of life is a very sacred time and I’m very conscious of that. Yes, it’s often a time of great sadness and of great fear but if you can sit alongside them on their journey, it’s a very special and privileged position to be in.”
As part of her volunteer work, Mary visits palliative care patients at their homes, and she offers a few hours’ respite to people who are caring for their family and friends. Importantly, she also makes follow-up phone calls to families six-to-eight weeks after their loved ones have died.
“It’s such a wonderful service that we offer,” Mary says. “The follow-up phone calls with families some weeks after their loved one’s passing is something that we brought in that has now been taken up by many other palliative care services.
They live deep in my heart.
“Time and time again, the families say to me how grateful they are and ‘thank you for just caring’. It’s often a time when family and friends’ lives have moved on and the visits with meals of support have stopped, so for them to hear us ask how they are is often just what they need.”
As for the people for whom Mary has cared in their final moments, they will live with her forever.
“I’ll never forget them,” she says. “They live deep in my heart.”
If you are interested in volunteering for Mercy Palliative Care, visit our volunteering page.
Last reviewed December 18, 2019.