People being cared for at a rehabilitation centre in Somerset are benefitting from a generous donation made by friends of a former patient.
Lauren Matherick and Natalie Pusey raised £1890 for the Somerset Neurological Rehabilitation Centre (SNRC), based at Dene Barton Community Hospital after taking on the Newport Marathon in April.
The girls were inspired to raise funds after seeing the tremendous support the team at the centre gave to their friend Rose Mitchell’s mum Rachel, who spent five months there after suffering two brain aneurisms.
Rose said: “When mum arrived at the SNRC, she couldn’t eat by herself, she couldn’t walk, she barely spoke and was tired most of the time. After my first visit I was excited to go back and visit again because each time there were
noticeable improvements.”
“The team were so friendly and had a great relationship with us and mum which made us feel welcome and part of her recovery. My friends knew that my family was going through a really difficult time but knew how much progress mum was making so I was really overwhelmed when they said they wanted to run the marathon in aid of the centre.”
Lauren added: “It was really hard to watch our friend and her family go through such a difficult time, to help in our own way we decided to run a marathon to raise money for the centre which was offering such fundamental care to Rachel during her recovery.”
“We had aimed to raise £500 originally, but, as we kept training the donations kept increasing. We are so thankful to those who donated and supported us for such a great cause. The marathon was a real challenge for Natalie and I, but I’m really proud of us for completing it. The support we had kept us going during training sessions and i’m hopeful
that the money we raised will make a real difference to the centre.”
Natalie said: “We decided to take on this challenge as we wanted to show support for Rachel, Rose and their family. We also wanted to have a positive impact on those going through similar difficult times. We are absolutely overwhelmed by the support we received and how much we managed to raise for such a great cause.”
Frances McLanaghan, sister at SNRC, said: “We are so grateful to Lauren and Natalie for their incredibly generous donation. It was great to welcome them and Rose along to see the garden which we plan to do up with the donation.
“We appreciate all of the support that we are given, it makes a real difference to our patients and the surrounding and the whole team would like to say a big thank you.”
Rose said Rachel is living independently and keeping active and is doing really well. She added: “Her mobility is fantastic and her confidence is growing daily, even now every time I see her, I’m overwhelmed by the progress she’s made. “We really can’t thank the SNRC enough, they made an immense difference to mum’s recovery and without them she definitely wouldn’t be where she is now. “The difference you’ve made is incredible, and words will never describe how grateful we all are.”
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