Warwick Hospital’s ‘faultless care’ inspires two sisters to fundraise

Ian Emery died in 2007 after contracting melanoma - and since then, his daughter Jenny Emery has also been treated for the same type of cancer.

She and her sister Alison decided to raise as much as they could, in Mr Emery’s memory, to donate to the surgical and dermatology teams at Warwick Hospital, who treated both father and daughter.

With the help of a former colleague of their father, who ran up Ben Nevis carrying bricks on his back, a fundraising effort and generous contributions from others, the sisters were able to present enough funds to the hospital for it to buy an air dermatome, a new piece of equipment that enables surgeons to perform more uniform, precise skin grafts, which cover the location where skin cancers have been removed.

Simon Harries, consultant general surgeon at the hospital, said “I would like to thank Jenny and Alison for their generous donation. This is a fantastic piece of equipment and has many advantages that will greatly benefit our patients.”

Jenny Emery said: “On behalf of my entire family, I would like to thank everybody involved in the faultless care that my father and I received, particularly from Mr Harries and Dr Alison Bedlow, consultant dermatologist.

“Alison and I have donated this equipment in memory of our father to offer our gratitude to the teams that cared for our father and myself and to benefit patients who are going through similar experiences.”

Hospital staff are urging people to remember to protect themselves when out in the sun and ensure they monitor the appearance of any moles.

Anyone with concerns about skin cancer should contact their GP at the earliest opportunity. To find out more about melanoma, visit www.nhs.uk