Beautiful Last Goodbye: U.K Cancer patient woman's emotional goodbye to her beloved horse Bronwen

These moving pictures show the horse-loving grandmother, whose dying wish was to see her favourite animal, when both she and her steed were in their prime.

Sheila Marsh, 77, was wheeled out of Wigan Royal Infirmary in her hospital bed so she could say goodbye to her cherished mare named Bronwen, before passing away just hours later.

It had been the grandmother-of-four's dying wish to see her horse, which she owned for 25 years since she was a foal, one last time.

Photographs taken from the family albums show Mrs Marsh, who used to work at Haydock Park Racecourse, riding Bronwen at a local show.

Mrs Marsh, who lived in Bickershaw, Wigam, had a life-long affiliation with horses - and when her condition began to deteriorate she asked nurses if she could see her beloved horse once more.

Bosses at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust acted on her wishes and allowed her family to transport show horse Bronwen to the hospital.

Pictures taken on the day - with her full permission - show the animal nuzzling into her owner's neck as she lay in her hospital bed.

Her daughter Tina Marsh, 33, said: 'I was crying my eyes out and all the nurses were crying too. She took comfort out of it and it was a beautiful moment.'

'She loved her horses and she loved and adored all animals. She had six horses, three dogs, three cats and other animals.

'Her condition did not get any better and the hospital allowed us to bring Bronwen in. It was a matter of hours later that she passed away. I want to thank the hospital and all the nurses.

'It was very important for my mum. She was one of the most hard-working people that you could meet and she would do anything for anyone.'

Gail Taylor, bereavement liaison specialist nurse, said: 'We listened and acted on Mrs Marsh's last wishes.

'Sheila gently called to Bronwen and the horse bent down tenderly and kissed her on the cheek as they said their last goodbyes.'

Pauline Law, deputy director of nursing, added: 'I am really pleased to have been able to facilitate the visit from Mrs Marsh's horse. This was obviously extremely important to her and her family and we feel privileged to have been able to provide this support at this crucial stage of her care.

'It is absolutely right that we should pull out all the stops to ensure that our patients and their families receive personalised, compassionate and dignified care at the end of their life and this is what we will always strive to achieve.'

Andrew Foster, chief executive of the trust, posted the image on Twitter and said it highlighted how trust staff went 'the extra mile' to make Mrs Marsh feel comfortable.

He wrote: 'With the family's permission here is how @WWLNHS go the extra mile to deliver the wishes of a dying patient.' The post was widely shared and re-tweeted. Twitter users - including hospitals across the country - applauded the hospital for its kind-hearted efforts and others said theimage brought tears to their eyes.

While moved members of the public took to the social media site to express their feelings.

Gail Francis, writing on Twitter from Stratford-upon-Avon said: 'What an amazing photograph. Anything that makes the last days/hours bearable should be applauded x.'

And Lizzie Legate added on the social networking site: 'Beautiful moment for them both. Well done everyone for an amazing effort to provide a treasured moment.'

Music : Anguish by Kevin MacLeod
Source : DailyMail , Mirror , Telegraph
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