This heartfelt story, titled “This Valentine’s Day,” details the poignant moments shared between Mr. Yiu, a terminally ill patient, and his wife at Assisi Hospice. The narrative revolves around the creation of a hand cast as a remembrance for their unborn child, capturing the emotional journey of love and loss. Below are instructions for this story:
Assisi Hospice said on Facebook:
“𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒’𝑠 𝐷𝑎𝑦, 𝑤𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 44 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟-𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 Mr 𝑌𝑖𝑢. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 he 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑛𝑑-𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟, ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑡. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑦𝑒𝑡-𝑡𝑜-𝑏𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 her, ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚.
She sat by his bedside in Assisi Hospice. They held hands tightly and dipped them in the alginate mixture, which was part of the process of creating the mould of a hand cast. It was a loving and touching moment, as she smiled with tears in her eyes.
Mr Yiu was diagnosed with liver cancer in February 2023, which was discovered due to persistent pain in his abdominal area. The tumour was too big, and his condition was not suitable for treatment. He was recommended palliative care and was admitted to Assisi Hospice’s Inpatient ward in March 2023, barely a month after his diagnosis.
Mrs Yiu said, “He wanted to do something that he could leave as a remembrance for us. The art therapist suggested a hand cast, so that our child could hold it after he was born. Even though he was already very weak, he persisted and even did one more hand cast, holding my hand,” she shared.
Mr Yiu deteriorated quickly and passed on the day after he did the hand cast. The hand cast was completed and the care team presented it to Mrs Yiu at his wake. During his short stay of three days in the hospice, our art therapist also helped to create an artwork with handprints of his family. Our music therapist recorded his heartbeat, as a memento for his unborn child.
Mrs Yiu said, “The hand cast looks very real, you can see the lines on his hand. When I miss him, I will look at his photos, and also the hand cast that we made.”