Is this the time we’re going to lose him?

Today (Monday 16 June, 2025) marks the start of Children’s Hospice Week 2025, and mum-of-three Jackie Fears is bravely sharing the story of her son, Greg, and how Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice has, and continues to, support her and her family.

Jackie, from Church Village, Pontypridd, says: “I’m sharing my story because it actually breaks my heart to know that there are families like ours out there who don’t have the support that we have had or the experiences that we have had. I can’t even begin to comprehend what it would be like to go through this alone.”

“When he was just two years old Greg was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension – a life-shortening heart and lung condition – with a prognosis that he would only live for a further five or so years.”

“My husband, Paul, and I were devastated and I felt that I was going to pieces,” says Jackie.

Greg, however, suffered no serious symptoms of his condition until he was 15, and it was then that he and his family started to receive support from Tŷ Hafan.

“This is the only place where I could just be his mum. And it was so nice to let the carer part of me go for the time that we were here – I could just be his mum,” says Jackie.

Greg, in fact, lived well beyond the initial prognosis of five years, cared for at home by Jackie. In later years, and especially after the pandemic, Tŷ Hafan’s gardens became Greg’s ‘safe space’.

In July 2022, Greg had a stroke and Jackie says: ‘It was then just a question of time.’

Greg died on Valentine’s Day 2023, surrounded by his family, and supported by Tŷ Hafan.

“Having Tŷ Hafan in our lives has been totally life-changing,” says Jackie. “It is worrying caring day-to-day. There were times which were far more challenging than others. But if you’ve got somewhere to turn to, to even just talk it through, it stops that awful feeling of isolation. Grief has no time limit.”

Tracy Jones, Director of Family Wellbeing and Outreach Services at Tŷ Hafan, said: “No family should have to live their child’s short life alone.

“We know that there are many more children with life-shortening conditions and their families, like Greg’s, who could really benefit from our support but who are currently having to manage the fear and isolation that comes with having a very ill child on their own.

“As we mark the start of Children’s Hospice Week today, while we want to take time to celebrate our work here at Tŷ Hafan, we also want to remind people that there is still so much more to do and there are so many more families who need our support.”

For more information and to make a donation go to www.tyhafan.org 

Pictured: Greg Fears as a little lad on a fairground ride and Greg with his mum, Jackie