The mother of a child who died due to a rare brain condition said hospice care was “absolutely vital”, as she praised the charity that looked after her son.
Fleur Bryant, from Outwood near Horley in Surrey, spent five weeks with her nine-year-old son Toby at Christopher’s in Guildford, run by the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, before his death from Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) in May 2024.
Now, Fleur has praised the hospice for supporting her family and “becoming their home” at the end of Toby’s life, and helping to give him a “good quality death”.
It comes as the hospice calls for more support from the government to continue to provide its “first class” care, and support charities like it.
Fleur told BBC Radio Surrey: “Toby was an incredible little boy. He was obsessed with trains, and was incredibly funny – he had no idea how funny he was.
“It was an incredibly difficult period to navigate but the hospice were there for us. For our children the hospice became their home, and the staff with it their family.”