By Philippa Evans PUBLISHED: 19:46 EST, 11 December 2013 | UPDATED: 20:00 EST, 11 December 2013 Leaving Mum in hospital at the end of visiting hours was like being wrenched from a terrified child. This warm, capable, intelligent woman - a former domestic science teacher - had borne years of living with terminal cancer with stoicism and dignity. But two dreadful weeks on a hectic hospital ward had reduced her to a confused and anguished wreck. Even now, it's almost unbearable to recall my mother gasping inconsolably down the phone: 'You have to come, you have to come.' Or her pinched, pleading looks each time my hospital visits came to an end.
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Audrey Cole, passed away aged 77 after cancer diagnosis
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She spent last days in Sue Ryder hospice
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Her daughter Philippa Evans is grateful to staff
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Hospice made painful time easier for whole family
Invaluable support: @placeholder will always be grateful to Sue Ryder staff