Barry & Jenny Jones
When retired engineer Barry Jones was due to undergo heart surgery at Southampton, his wife naturally wanted to be close at hand to offer her love and support. But the extended family did not like the idea of Jenny (70) having to endure a daily 80-mile round trip and return each night to an empty house.
Fortunately, Heartbeat House offered the perfect solution and proved to be an ideal home from home.
Heartbeat House, which has now been extended to provide 25 bedrooms and is only a two minute walk from the hospital, was built with funds raised by Wessex Heartbeat together with substantial contributions from Rotary International Clubs within the Wessex region.
Jenny, a retired teacher and voluntary worker, was able to stay in the modern purpose-built facilities for eight days while Barry recovered from his aortic valve replacement procedure in February 2008.
"I was provided with a very comfortable single room and there were plenty of toilet and bathroom facilities available", said Jenny, of Victoria Drive, Bognor Regis.
"There was a beautifully-equipped kitchen and each resident was allocated their own cupboard, fridge and freezer space. My daughter-in-law prepared a lasagne and brought it down and we were able to pop it into the oven and share a meal and maintain some semblance of normal family life", added Jenny. "The laundry room was a godsend for washing pyjamas and taking them back to the hospital the following day."
The provision of a communal room also allowed for family get-togethers. On the afternoon of Barry's operation members of the Jones family, who have five grown-up children between them, gathered round the TV to watch rugby and witnessed Wales's 26-19 victory over England at Twickenham in the RBS Six Nations competition. Barry, whose ancestral roots are in Wales, had asked to be informed of the score when he came round and the result would have been a fillip to his recuperation!
Jenny, who is a member of the Bognor Regis Local History Society, described her stay as a cathartic experience, as she was surrounded by other people who were similarly anxious about their spouses, children or parents.
"We used to get a daily report from everybody but we didn't always talk just about the illnesses - there were some lighter moments too", she stressed. "I know that our children were very grateful that I was at Heartbeat House. It did help in taking some of the pressure of them - otherwise they would have had to arrange taking time off from work and as it worked out they didn't have to worry about me driving home to Bognor each night. And I'm certain that it was reassuring for Barry to know that I was there", said Jenny.
Barry, a past Chairman of the International Bognor Birdman, said: "I was very impressed with the care that my wife got."
