A DAUGHTER whose mother died of liver disease is urging people to get behind St Catherine’s Christmas appeal.

Michele Hiatt, who lived in Pickering, was 50 when she died after years battling the illness.

Her daughter Shanna Turner said the support the family were given by the hospice changed everything at a devastating time.

She said: “The love and the care we received was life-changing. It inspired me to want to give love and care to other people. It was a very difficult time,but it could have been so much worse without Saint Catherine’s.”

Shanna has shared her family’s experiences of hospice care in support of St Catherine’s Light up a Life appeal, which holds services in Ryedale next month.

The 31-year-old said she and her nan, Ellen Hiatt, sat and sometimes slept in a chair by her mum's hospital bedside until Michele was offered a bed in St Catherine’s.

“I was exhausted. I just thought, ‘Thank God’. It was such a relief,” said Shanna.

“As soon as I walked into the hospice, it was like seeing a completely different person to the woman I’d seen hours earlier in the hospital. She was a lot more alert, she was sitting up, she looked comfortable and peaceful.”

Michele remained alert for two more days, while Shanna slept in a bed beside her.

“She was so happy to be there, it was almost blissful,” Shanna said.

Even when her mum lost consciousness eight days before she died, Shanna said she and her family continued to have support.

“On the morning she passed away, I felt sad saying goodbye to the nurses because they had helped us so much. Even as I was leaving, I said, ‘I’m going to do something to raise some money,’ because I felt so inspired by the help we’d had.”

Two years on, Shanna has fulfilled that pledge, completing the National Three Peaks challenge by scaling Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis and Snowdon to raise almost £500.

Now she is urging other Ryedale families to support St Catherine’s through its Christmas appeal.

Donations can be made by phoning 01723 378406, or picking up a leaflet from any hospice shop. They can also be made online at stcatherineshospice-nyorks.org

Light up a Life services will be held on Tuesday, December 2, at St Peter’s Church, Norton; and Monday, December 7, at All Saints’ Church, Helmsley, both at 6pm.