Blog Archives - PatchSA https://patchsa.org/category/blog/ People who care supporting people who care Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:18:19 +0000 en-ZA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.1 Compassion in action: A PatchSA WhatsApp community story https://patchsa.org/marking-courage-a-patchsa-community-story/ https://patchsa.org/marking-courage-a-patchsa-community-story/#respond Tue, 10 Feb 2026 15:26:10 +0000 https://patchsa.org/?p=7561 A simple WhatsApp message sparked a moment of extraordinary kindness, showing how the South African children’s palliative care community cares for the smallest details, and have the biggest hearts. PatchSA hosts a WhatsApp group for its members, a powerful community of people who care deeply for children needing palliative care and for the families [...]

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]]> https://patchsa.org/marking-courage-a-patchsa-community-story/feed/ 0 Grief, Loss, and Bereavement – A Reflection https://patchsa.org/grief-loss-bereavement-a-reflection/ https://patchsa.org/grief-loss-bereavement-a-reflection/#respond Fri, 19 Dec 2025 10:35:42 +0000 https://patchsa.org/?p=7498 This reflection on her own losses, practice, and learning was written by Dr Lauren O'Brien after completing the PatchSA 9-month Comprehensive Course on Paediatric Palliative Care in 2025.  I have had a few losses in my life. The most significant was that my beloved father died of Colon Cancer when I was 22 yrs [...]

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]]> https://patchsa.org/grief-loss-bereavement-a-reflection/feed/ 0 For every child with serious health-related suffering – Palliative Care is a Human Right https://patchsa.org/childrens-palliative-care-is-a-human-right/ https://patchsa.org/childrens-palliative-care-is-a-human-right/#respond Tue, 10 Dec 2024 11:25:59 +0000 https://patchsa.org/?p=6700 Author: Joan Marston Today is World Human Rights Day with the theme: Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now. On this day, global palliative care advocate, Joan Marston, writes: For every child with serious health-related suffering - Palliative Care is a Human Right.   Palliative care for children to relieve serious health-related suffering is recognised [...]

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]]> https://patchsa.org/childrens-palliative-care-is-a-human-right/feed/ 0 The life and death of Lirie van der Merwe https://patchsa.org/the-life-and-death-of-lirie-van-der-merwe/ https://patchsa.org/the-life-and-death-of-lirie-van-der-merwe/#respond Thu, 16 May 2024 15:33:55 +0000 https://patchsa.org/?p=5607 How an early palliative care referral could have changed things This blog by Mauriche van der Merwe is written with raw honesty and describes the tenuous and precious life of her daughter, Lirie, and their experience through her unnecessarily traumatic end of life. Please be aware that it will and should be upsetting to [...]

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]]> https://patchsa.org/the-life-and-death-of-lirie-van-der-merwe/feed/ 0 Our journey to Butterfly Palliative Home https://patchsa.org/our-journey-to-butterfly-palliative-home/ https://patchsa.org/our-journey-to-butterfly-palliative-home/#respond Mon, 14 Aug 2023 13:42:11 +0000 https://patchsa.org/?p=4938 In this blog, Tarryn Bell, co-founder of Butterfly Palliative Home in Ingwavuma, recounts her and husband Christoff's inspirational journey to the establishment of Butterfly Palliative Home, the only in-patient children's hospice in KZN. My husband Christoff and I moved from Cape Town thirteen years ago to a small hospital close to Sodwana Bay called [...]

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]]> https://patchsa.org/our-journey-to-butterfly-palliative-home/feed/ 0 Cancer is a disease, not a military campaign https://patchsa.org/cancer-is-a-disease-not-a-military-campaign/ https://patchsa.org/cancer-is-a-disease-not-a-military-campaign/#respond Mon, 22 May 2023 08:46:27 +0000 https://patchsa.org/?p=4650 Cancer is a disease, not a military campaign: Changing the narrative Research has shown that the ubiquitous use of war metaphors when referring to cancer is not helpful and could cause harm by instilling fear in people who delay reporting symptoms. In this blog Bonni Suckling (Jed's mom) explains how the words we choose [...]

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]]> https://patchsa.org/cancer-is-a-disease-not-a-military-campaign/feed/ 0 In palliative care we have the unique privilege to plan for death https://patchsa.org/in-palliative-care-we-have-the-unique-privilege-to-plan-for-death/ https://patchsa.org/in-palliative-care-we-have-the-unique-privilege-to-plan-for-death/#respond Tue, 20 Sep 2022 12:03:08 +0000 https://patchsa.org/?p=3906 Research has shown that when a child dies, the place of their death may have lasting consequences for the parents during the bereavement process. In this blog, Bonni Suckling, mother to Jed and founding member of Rainbows and Smiles, describes why home was the best place for her 6-year-old son to die. I feared [...]

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]]> https://patchsa.org/in-palliative-care-we-have-the-unique-privilege-to-plan-for-death/feed/ 0 Before and After learning about Paediatric Palliative Care https://patchsa.org/before-and-after-learning-about-paediatric-palliative-care/ https://patchsa.org/before-and-after-learning-about-paediatric-palliative-care/#respond Mon, 19 Sep 2022 22:22:25 +0000 https://patchsa.org/?p=3870 In this powerful and deeply personal written narrative, Samantha Jiri, a medical doctor, gives excerpts from her journalling through her palliative care journey. She shares stories of two patients and their mothers- before and after learning about and applying palliative care principles. Samantha went on to graduate Cum Laude in the Post Graduate Paediatric [...]

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]]> https://patchsa.org/before-and-after-learning-about-paediatric-palliative-care/feed/ 0 Benjamin’s story https://patchsa.org/benjamins-story/ https://patchsa.org/benjamins-story/#respond Tue, 05 Jul 2022 09:40:40 +0000 https://patchsa.org/?p=5862 Angie, Anton and Abigail Hawkes share the story of how palliative care supported them through the last weeks of Benjamin's life.  Benjamin Hawkes was just 10 years old when he was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) and over the next ten months he underwent chemotherapy, limb salvage surgery and radiation therapy. A clear PET [...]

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