Grandma's book a '˜parting gift' to help family cope without her

IN the last weeks of her life a Wyre woman wrote a book for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Jun 2016, 09:52 BST
Updated 13th Jun 2016, 12:15 BST
Patricia Sandiford was 65, from Scorton near Garstang. Pictured heere with her son Robin Sandiford. She died on May 9 but wrote a children's book called Mrs Hegerty's Hens in the last few weeks of her life. The book was for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.Patricia Sandiford was 65, from Scorton near Garstang. Pictured heere with her son Robin Sandiford. She died on May 9 but wrote a children's book called Mrs Hegerty's Hens in the last few weeks of her life. The book was for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.
Patricia Sandiford was 65, from Scorton near Garstang. Pictured heere with her son Robin Sandiford. She died on May 9 but wrote a children's book called Mrs Hegerty's Hens in the last few weeks of her life. The book was for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.

And now Patricia Sandiford’s book has been published just weeks after the 65-year-old lost her 18 month battle with ovarian cancer.

Patricia lived in Scorton near Garstang with her husband Eric and was diagnosed with the disease in 2014. She was then sent for chemotherapy at Royal Lancaster Infirmary before being moved to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, where she wrote the book.

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Despite treatment, Patricia died on Monday, May 9 and her son has spoken about what the book means to him.

Patricia Sandiford was 65, from Scorton near Garstang. She died on May 9 but wrote a children's book called Mrs Hegerty's Hens in the last few weeks of her life. The book was for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.Patricia Sandiford was 65, from Scorton near Garstang. She died on May 9 but wrote a children's book called Mrs Hegerty's Hens in the last few weeks of her life. The book was for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.
Patricia Sandiford was 65, from Scorton near Garstang. She died on May 9 but wrote a children's book called Mrs Hegerty's Hens in the last few weeks of her life. The book was for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.

Robin Sandiford lives in Manchester and the 34-year-old said “it was an incredibly touching parting gift”.

“Mum wrote the book for her three grandchildren and future grandson,” Robin said. “She had always been a really creative person and I think writing a book was something she’d wanted to do for a while so it was really nice she left something for the family to keep on reading after she died.”

Robin says his mum was well liked in the Scorton and Garstang communities and right up until her death she’d had a very active lifestyle and had been in good health.

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“She had been a florist for her job and done lots of painting and badminton which meant she was very fit and we thought very healthy,” he said. “She had loads of friends in the area and had also done lots of fundraising for Cancer Research.”

Patricia Sandiford was 65, from Scorton near Garstang. She died on May 9 but wrote a children's book called Mrs Hegerty's Hens in the last few weeks of her life. The book was for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.Patricia Sandiford was 65, from Scorton near Garstang. She died on May 9 but wrote a children's book called Mrs Hegerty's Hens in the last few weeks of her life. The book was for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.
Patricia Sandiford was 65, from Scorton near Garstang. She died on May 9 but wrote a children's book called Mrs Hegerty's Hens in the last few weeks of her life. The book was for her grandchildren to help them cope with life without her.

And the book, ‘Mrs Hegerty’s Hens’, is based on mostly true events and tells a story of moving on when you lose someone close to you.

“The book is about a two hens and when one goes missing, the remaining one joins the farmer next door’s flock to cope with the loss,” Robin said. “My mum had hens and this happened to her so it’s a partly true story. It’s about changing and adapting after a loss and although it’s a children’s story it has quite a deep side to it.

“It’s brilliant children for years to come will be able to read this.”

The book is for sale at the lulu.com and will go on wider sale internationally through Amazon and Barnes and Noble within the next eight weeks.

Related topics:ManchesterGarstang