A WORCESTER couple both living with cancer have described the work of a charity supporting people with the disease as ‘remarkable’.

Max and Val Trundle from Hawford, who have been married for almost 60 years, have been supported through their illnesses by St Richard’s Hospice and have praised the work of the charity for offering a helping hand during a very difficult time.

Mr Trundle was diagnosed with prostate cancer ten years ago and was given six to eight years to live. He has since undergone five sessions of intensive radiotherapy and one of chemotherapy.

His wife discovered she had colon cancer after she became ill while on holiday in Spain three years ago and has just finished her third session of chemotherapy treatment.

At one stage the couple, both aged 82, were undergoing treatment side-by-side.

Last autumn their doctor suggested they may benefit from care and support of St Richard’s Hospice and have since been visited by nurse specialist Gayle Webster once a week.

Mr Trundle, who previously ran a furnishing business, said he and his wife had expected to live well into old age as his mother had lived to 102 and hers had reached the impressive age of 96.

“Up until I reached 80 I didn’t really have any problems but now the cancer has gone into my bones,” he said.

Describing Mrs Webster as “very caring”, he said: “She gives us the confidence to keep going.

“We didn’t realise how much St Richard’s offers care and support to patients to help them stay in their own homes.”

He added they had both been very impressed by the facilities on offer at the hospice in Wildwood Drive and were reassured to know they could call the charity at any time.

Mrs Trundle, who worked as a magistrate for 30 years, said the support offered by Mrs Webster had been “an enormous help”.

“My last lot of chemotherapy really knocked me about but Gayle was very helpful and talked to the doctors suggesting which medication might make a difference,” she said.

“She takes the time to build a relationship with us, helps answer things we are anxious about and we know we can ask her anything large or small which is worrying us.

”We can’t give enough praise to Gayle and St Richard’s for all their care and support to both of us,” she said.

“To think that St Richard’s is a charity as well and provides all this wonderful care for free is amazing.”

Mrs Webster said she worked closely with Mr and Mr’s Trundle’s GPs, the hospice’s medical team and other support workers to ensure they got the help they needed.

“Max and Val are a delightful couple,” she said. “I am so pleased to hear that they benefit from my visits and that they feel able to call the hospice at anytime.”

St Richard’s Hospice provides free specialist palliative care for more than 2,500 people living with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses every year and supports their families.

For more information please visit www.strichards.org.uk.