A mother who is battling a terminal illness has said the comedy gig, Laughter At LOROS, held at the Hospice, gave her back that much-needed sense of normality.
Kirsty Adkins, of Thringstone, who is a patient at LOROS, has graft-versus-host disease, which came after her body rejected a bone marrow transplant following her being diagnosed with leukaemia in 2011.
The 40-year-old, who has two daughters, had not long arrived on the LOROS ward when she noticed there was a comedy gig taking place at the Hospice on Friday night.
“Me and my eldest daughter both love comedy, so I asked her if she wanted to come with me,” said Kirsty, whose eldest daughter is 13-year-old Katelyn.
“It was amazing. Really, really nice.”
The event, which was the first of its kind at LOROS and was part of this year’s Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival,raised more than £700 for the Hospice.
Hosted by former English Comedian of the Year, Jack Campbell, the night saw Edinburgh Fringe Festival regular, Lloyd Griffith, BBC New Comedy Award winner, Angela Barnes and Leicester-based surrealist Dan Nicholas, each taking to the stage for the comedy gig.
“We both put our make-up on and got dressed up; it was like we were having a mother-and-daughter night out but didn’t have to make any effort to actually go anywhere,” added Kirsty.
“We had a sleepover afterwards too, which was lovely. It gave us back that much-needed sense of normality again.”
Since being diagnosed with graft-versus-host disease, not only has her skin and digestive system been affected but Kirsty’s muscles have become extremely weak, which means she now has to use a wheelchair when leaving the house.
“We don’t get a chance to do things like go out to comedy gigs anymore,” she added.
“Katelyn was amazed that we could go, there’s no way we could’ve gone if I had been at home.
“Laughter At LOROS completely took our minds off everything, I really hope more events like this happen at the Hospice.”
The event has since been nominated for the Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival ‘Make Me Happy Community Award’.
The winner will be announced at a private ceremony on 21st March.
Fundraising Co-ordinator, Dave Nicklin, said: “As well as raising enough money to pay for one of our specialist nurses for a whole week, we were also able to show people that there really can be laughter at a Hospice.
“It’s hearing comments like those from Kirsty which makes these events so worthwhile for the staff at LOROS.”
Find out how you can get involved with supporting LOROS by visiting loros.co.uk/support-us
