How a Marie Curie ‘helper’ made life special for Margaret (91)
WHEN Barry resident Margaret Wyatt was told she’d be getting support from a Marie Curie helper volunteer, she didn’t know what to expect. Let alone when a man 20 years her junior turned up.
But from the moment they met, Margaret and Joe Xerri, also from Barry, became the best of friends – and all thanks to their cheery outlook on life.
Margaret, 91, was diagnosed with bone cancer last year, and though terminal, doesn’t know her prognosis. The Marie Curie helper service sees Joe provide her with company and support during the time she has left.
The pair are sharing their story during the charity’s 75th year, and ahead of the International Day of Friendship on 30th July, in a bid to encourage others to take up the support available, and to volunteer their time.
The Marie Curie helper service sees volunteers visit people living with a terminal illness in their own homes, offering companionship and support for a minimum of three hours each week.The role involves helping with activities such as reading, making short trips to the shops, and providing information on local services. Volunteers might also give support by telephone, as well as face to face.
The service can work alongside Marie Curie’s nursing care, as Marie Curie nurses visiting people’s homes and in one of nine hospices across the UK, including the one in Penarth.
For Joe and Margaret, their time together can take them anywhere they fancy.
“It’s marvellous, we’ve been out every time,” says Margaret of the time they’ve spent together so far since April.
“We’ve been to Cosmeston (Lakes), we’ve been to Penarth, we’ve been to Barry Island and sat there watching the people go by. I so look forward to it, because what’s the alternative, just sitting in the house? And we’ve met so many people. It doesn’t matter where we go, we always end up talking to people don’t we? Because Joe does like talking to people.
“It’s just about our outlook on life. Just be friends with people and happy with people. Because people are moaning all the time, aren’t they?”
Joe, 71, was nominated for a Coronation Champion Award by the charity. He said: “You’ve got to live your life, make the most of it, laugh about it.
“We always meet someone. We went to the clifftop in Penarth to the café there, and there were some lovely people. It’s amazing because we’re like two mates. We agree on everything, it’s weird how we click. It’s a blessing I suppose.”
Talking of her diagnosis, great-grandmother Margaret says: “I had a bad fall, I fell out of my kitchen door backwards onto the patio, so of course they scanned me and told me I hadn’t broken anything but said, ‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to tell you, you’ve got bone cancer’.
“Velindre have been wonderful. They have been looking after me well. I had one course of radiotherapy, which has helped. I had breast cancer seven years ago and I got over that. I know this isn’t going to go. But we’ll meet it when it comes.
“They haven’t given me a prognosis. I haven’t asked for it to be honest because I think what’s the point? What’s the point of saying ‘you’ve got six months, you’ve got nine months”, because I’d be thinking of that all the time? It’s not on my mind, so I’m lucky because I just feel the same.”
Joe, who is Maltese, also volunteers at the charity’s Caffi’r Ardd in the Marie Curie Hospice, Cardiff and the Vale in Penarth.
“Sometimes you think, I haven’t done much good in the world,” said the dad-of-two.
“But now it’s really lovely to sit back and think what a lovely day it’s been with other people and putting a smile on somebody’s face. Giving something back. The café is the same. It is a bit sad when patients come down, but again I serve them, have a joke and laugh and as long as they have a smile I can go home and think ‘Joe, you’re doing something good’. I get up and look forward to going out with Margaret. I think everybody should give something back.
“Marie Curie is wonderful, everyone is so welcoming, friendly, helpful. I feel very well supported.”
Anyone wishing to get a helper volunteer, or to volunteer to be one, should email
To make a donation to help Marie Curie continue its work, visit Mariecurie.org.uk/donate
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