HUNDREDS of supporters of the East Lancashire Hospice celebrated the opening of a new day therapy centre, which will mean 100 patients a week can be treated as outpatients.

For many who deal with the hospice, the efforts staff make to boost patients' morale and self esteem, go a long way towards improving their lives.

Angela Zigler spoke to one young woman whose life was touched by their efforts:

WHEN 25-year-old cancer sufferer Kenny Cruickshank was told he would be going into East Lancashire Hospice, he was devastated.

It was 1998, and Kenny, of Edward Street, Rishton, was suffering from bowel cancer, when he was told his treatment necessitated a stay at the hospice.

His girlfriend, Vanessa Lockyer, now 27, said, despite his initial reservations, the change in his outlook and condition in just his first three days was astonishing.

"He was not impressed by the thought of going and I really didn't think he was going to get anything out of it," she said.

In her diary, Vanessa said the change in him just 24 hours after beginning his stay, was immeasurable.

On February 9, 1998, the day before he went into the hospice, she wrote: "Kenny is so miserable at the moment. He has had a few very rough nights of constant pain."

But the next night when he had been in the hospice a few hours, she wrote: "Kenny is so much better. It was wonderful to have a proper hug for the first time in months."

And the next night, she wrote: "Kenny and I have made it out for lunch. It was wonderful to be able to do something together."

Vanessa, from Manchester, who is now a nurse, said: "It became a lifeline for him and his family and for me. The thing that made it so significant is that the staff made it possible for Kenny to be Kenny again. We became Kenny and Vanessa again. It was invaluable for the precious time we had together."

The pair, who had got together three years earlier, were encouraged by staff to take trips out at weekends when Kenny was feeling well enough, and, Vanessa said, she was allowed to stay overnight, too, when he was well.

"They looked at him as a whole person, not just looking at the disease. It was the little things they did, that made the difference," she said. "It was very relaxed, and whatever Kenny wanted, they always did their best to help him. We got to know them all so well."

She added: "He had never been to the hospice, or any other hospice. He saw it as the place where people go to die, but he soon realised otherwise.

"It was about quality of life. There is no point in having an extra year if you are going to be in constant pain and can't live that year. It is all about quality of life."

Kenny died in October 1998.

His battle inspired Vanessa to face a challenge of her own two years later, when she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of friends to raise funds for the hospice. They raised £4,000 in the six-day trek, which saw Vanessa conquer altitude sickness, cold, and pain of her own.

"It was a huge challenge," she said. "It was torture though. I kept thinking 'what on earth am I doing this for?' But once you get to the top, you forget all that. It was completely worth it."

She added: "I had just wanted to do something. They were all so wonderful to Kenny and myself and his family and I wanted to do something for them."