Santa Claus came to town a little late!
Steve Abbott presented a cheque to Moya Cole Hospice following the money he raised during his Santa photoshoot at Christmas time
Santa Claus came to town a little late this year as Steve Abbott presented Moya Cole Hospice with a cheque for over £900.
Last December, Lucie, manager of the Crown at Hawk Green invited Steve as Santa to raise money for his charity. She created a Grotto and arranged a photoshoot which was a sell-out. All the money being donated to Moya Cole Hospice.
His connection to Moya Cole Hospice began when he lost his wife Lizzy to cancer last June.
“After a long-term cancer of the blood and broken ankle, she was experiencing back pain,” Steve said. “She entered Stepping Hill Hospital, for eight weeks and they sent her to Preston to investigate the cause. They found a lump on her kidneys which was stage four cancer and a lump on her spine. Her son Lewis and daughter Roz took time off work and were by her side in hospital. It was arranged for her to go home but she was told there wasn’t much they could do in curing her as she wasn’t in good enough health.”
At home Lizzy was told she would no longer able to get out of bed. Steve said she turned to him and said, “You’re not going to be able to cope with me anymore.” “Within a couple of days, they managed to get a bed at Moya Cole Hospice or St Ann’s as it was then,” Steve said.
Two weeks later just after midnight the night Lizzy died, Roz called him to come outside, on a still and cold night, to view the Strawberry Moon, a phenomenon that happens when the moon appears low in the sky consisting of a reddish hue.
There was a gust of wind at 1215 and soon after a phone call came to tell us that Lizzy had died peacefully. At the hospice Lizzy in her bed had been taken into a private room and the staff looked after us like family Steve Abbott, Moya Cole Hospice Supporter
“As we left the hospice at 3 that morning, driving along St Ann’s Road North a fox crossed the road in front of the car and sat peacefully on the pavement and watched us go by. Lizzy had a love of foxes,” Steve said.
Roz has got a tattoo to commemorate the moment.
“Lizzy was always caring for other people; that’s the way she was. As a dinner lady at the local college for over thirty years. Many of the students had a hug for Lizzy” Steve said.
Steve is also an artist and after Lizzy had died, he created an artwork of Watergate Bay Beach in Cornwall, a place that meant a lot to the two of them. He recreated the landscape and a kissing gate. He painted clear wet varnish on the beach and footpath and scattered her ashes on the picture, for her to always be remembered.
When Steve came to Moya Cole Hospice to thank the staff and present the cheque, he dressed up in his Santa costume.