Brave nurses looking after terminally-ill patients watched in horror as heartless thieves ransacked a hospice at 4am in West Yorkshire.
Fearful night shift nurses at Overgate Hospice in Halifax stood by residents’ beds after spotting thieves on CCTV breaking into the their garden hub on Saturday, January 5. The brave staff feared for patients’ safety after the thieves were seen entering a smashed bi-folding door at around 4am.
In horror and panic, the nurses quickly rushed to the bedsides of end of life patients in the main building, poised to fight off the intruders. They had called 999 while the thieves were ransacking the garden hub building. West Yorkshire Police quickly arrived but it was too late as the group had already swindled a large screen TV, kettle and alcohol, as well as leaving a trail of thousand of pounds worth of destruction.
Later in the morning, heartbroken staff were forced to look around the damage caused during the break-in. A fundraiser has now been set up to help with the repairs in the garden space which is used for grieving family members and patients learning to cope with their terminal illnesses.
Despite being devastated with the incident, staff are still determined to make residents top priority despite counselling services being affected this week. The destruction has now put a halt to the work of building a brand new £12.75 million hospice on the site – known as the Big Build project – which aims to increase the number of people they can support with end of life care.
Tracey Wilcocks, Chief Executive of Overgate Hospice, said: “We are all in absolute shock. We know times are tough, but to knowingly break into and steal from a hospice is beyond belief. There’s nothing that can excuse this awful crime and the emotional impact it has on our patients, staff and volunteers.
Thieves broke large bi-folding windows to get into the hospice
“Some of our patients are currently receiving end of life care and for the nursing team to be taken away from providing that care in order to think of ways to protect them and contact the police is just not acceptable.
“Thankfully West Yorkshire Police have been brilliant and working to bring these criminals to justice. We would urge anyone out there with information to contact police directly and share any information you can.
“We will not let a few criminals stop the work we do here or our Big Build project to create a new hospice here. The public have always been amazing in their support for Overgate, so any and all donations are welcome, especially towards our Big Build fund.”
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