South Yorkshire: Schoolgirl designs festive card for hospice where her sister spent final hours

Mollie Nickels, aged eight, got to work with her best felt-tip pens to create a Christmas-themed card to help Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.

Mollie’s sister Faye died at Bluebell Wood in April, from a rare genetic disorder.

She was diagnosed with kidney disease aged 13, and after two years on dialysis was given a donor organ by her grandfather.

The transplant was supposed to transform her life - but after the surgery she began suffering from constant seizures and had to be put in an induced coma.

She was in the coma for four months while doctors tried to find out the cause of the seizures, but her organs started to fail and she was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, an incurable illness.

Faye’s mum Carol took her to Bluebell Wood in North Anston, where she died in her sleep within hours of arriving.

Carol said: “The staff were wonderful, nothing was too much trouble for them and it felt very homely and relaxed - the opposite of being on intensive care with machines beeping constantly and a lack of privacy.”

The family, from Campsall in Doncaster, was looked after in the hospice for over two weeks following Faye’s death, and were also given counselling by the charity.

Mollie’s card features a snowman holding a bunch of bluebells next to a Christmas tree.

Claire Rintoul, the hospice’s chief executive, said: “It’s great to have this beautiful card that represents one of our families and remembers Faye, a very special young lady.”

The cards cost £4 for a pack of 10. Visit www.bluebellwood.org/christmas to buy.

Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice offers care and support to children and young people with a shortened life expectancy, both in their own homes and at our hospice in North Anston.

There are only 43 children’s hospices in the country so Bluebell Wood cares for over 180 children from across South Yorks, North Derbys and North Notts .