Cancer bell donated to KGH's urology centre
A man who has been battling bladder cancer for four years has donated a completion of treatment bell to the urology centre at Kettering General Hospital.
And on Tuesday, February 3, Bill Clarke, 81, from Loddington, was the first patient to ring that bell as he completed his final chemotherapy treatment at the unit, based inside the hospital’s Treatment Centre.
Bill, a retired service engineer and a great grandfather with three children and four grandchildren, and one great granddaughter, decided that having a bell to ring would be a good way to mark the end of his treatment.
He said: “I was coming to the end of my treatment and I wanted to finish it by ringing the bell as I have seen happen elsewhere – but when I asked if there was one, there wasn’t one. So my wife and I decided to get one for the unit.
“It was also a way for us both to say thank you to the team who have been brilliant at looking after me for the last four years.”
Alison said: “We went online and found a bell and then Timpsons in Kettering kindly engraved it with Bill’s name - and wouldn’t charge us when they found out what it was for.”
Urology Nurse Paige Dawson said: “It was a fantastic thing to do and we are really very grateful.
“We were so pleased and excited when Bill came up with the idea as a way for people to symbolise the end of their treatment.
“We have a lot of patients who are being treated for urological cancers and it can be quite a hard time for them depending on how well they can take the treatments.
“Coming to end of treatment, often after a two or three-year journey, is a real milestone and ringing the bell seems to be a great way for patients who want to, to complete that journey.”
Paige applied to the End of Treatment Bells charity for a board to mount the bell on and it has now been fitted inside the Urology Centre treatment corridor.
Urology Nurse Jo Smith said: “Everyone who has walked past the bell has commented on it and it is a great addition to the department which has been well received.
“It is a symbol of hope after people have often been through a tough time with their cancer.”
Urology Matron Laura Chambers said: “Having Bill as the first person to ring his bell felt very appropriate.
“It is a great symbol for us to use to help our patients mark the end of their cancer treatment. And well done to Paige for helping the Clarkes to bring their plan to a successful conclusion.”
Today (Wednesday, February 4) is World Cancer Day and the National Cancer Plan, which sets out how the NHS will improve cancer outcomes, experience and equity over the next decade, was launched.