A “MIRACLE” team who helped a dad spend quality time with his family during the final months of his life is to benefit from a fundraising challenge planned in his memory.

Alan Edwards Gent died in January, aged 77, 14 months after being diagnosed with a rare form of Motor Neurone Disease.

Having being told he had Progressive Bulbar Palsy in November 2013, the former maths teacher was robbed of his voice, his swallow and eventually his ability to breathe.

Mr Gent visited St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston for respite care first in September and October 2014 and again for five weeks during November and December.

Sarah Gent is one of his daughters. The 37-year-old said: “The hospice was kind of a miracle - so fantastic, so incredibly kind.

“When you’re facing a progressive illness, it becomes incredibly important to recognise the positives, the great times you had as a family, and they gave us the chance to spend that meaningful time together.

“By that point, living was really, really difficult day-to-day.

"Being in the hospice meant that he could have some quality of life in the face of all that.

"It just meant we could spend time with him without worrying about the care side of it, which is huge when you’re preparing to say goodbye to someone."

The hospice team also played an important role in helping Mr Gent, who lived just north of Kendal, decide how he wanted to spend the remaining days of his life.

After leaving Ulverston on December 23, he died on January 13.

Miss Gent, who grew up in Crosthwaite, said: “The hospice team were very helpful in helping dad get to where he wanted to get to.

"They were a huge part of getting him home and that meant a huge amount to us.”

In an act of thanks for St Mary’s, Miss Gent will this weekend embark on an incredible fundraising challenge alongside her sisters: 34-year-old Chloe O’Hare; 41-year-old Emily Gent; and 40-year-old Tessa Jefferson.

Their “Thumbs Up” challenge will see them sketch a giant symbolic thumbs up shape through the Lake District landscape, walking 37 miles including seven summits and swimming seven lakes.

The swims and summits represent Mr Gent’s age when he died and the mileage the year of his birth, as does the sisters’ £1,937 fundraising target.

They will set off tomorrow, the day after what would have been their dad’s 78th birthday, and finish on Sunday.

Of the “thumbs up” theme, Miss Gent said: “From July 2014 it was hard to understand dad, but he still tried to cheer people with his big thumbs up.

"He’d do it to the hospice staff to thank them for something they were doing."

Visit  www.justgiving.com/ThumbsUpAlanGent to sponsor the sisters.

<u>What is Progressive Bulbar Palsy?</u>

  • Progressive Bulbar Palsy affects around a quarter of people diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.
  • Early symptoms may include slurring of speech or difficulty swallowing.
  • Life expectancy is between six months and three years from the onset of symptoms.
  • Unlike other types of MND, which see limb weakness as the earlier and more severe of symptoms, this is almost always evident but less prominent.
  • Cases with no evidence of abnormalities in the arms of legs are thought to be extremely rare.
  • Those affected by Progressive Bulbar Palsy may also experience emotional lability - outbursts of laughing or crying.