NHS Forth Valley: Family set up Helen's Hearts and donate to FVRH in memory of Stenhousemuir great-gran

Helen Burness died in the Larbert hospital on February 23 aged 97. As well as looking after the great-grandmother from Stenhousemuir, the palliative care team had been supporting her daughter Helen Wright and granddaughters Gillian Ryan and Catherine Myhill.

After Helen’s death, the family, including great grandchildren, were given a number of knitted hearts as a comfort keepsake. The family were so touched by the gesture that they have kept the ongoing knitted heart initiative, calling it Helen’s Hearts.

Daughter Helen said: “We can’t the palliative care team enough for all they did for mum and to support us in those final days. We wanted to do something as a family to say thank you and decided that a collection taken at mum’s funeral should go towards buying items for their unit.

"My little grandson, James Myhill, who is only six and attends Kinnaird Primary, said he wanted to sell some of his toys to get money for Helen’s Hearts in memory of his great-gran.”

Along with the knitted and crocheted red hearts, the family presented the team with three new CD players, small candles, photo frames and hand creams for patients and their families to use to provide a bit of comfort at a difficult time.

Three years ago, Helen featured in The Falkirk Herald when we told of a surprise VE Day party that her family and friends organised for her after the pandemic saw a special trip to London cancelled.

Helen had been invited to take part in a weekend of events organised by the British Legion to mark the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day but it was called off due to lockdown restrictions. She had been due to travel to the capital with daughter Helen and was supposed to be going to a gala dinner and an event in St James Park.

Her invite came as she had been in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service), undergoing her training in Dalkeith. She then headed by ship to Naples where she worked as a clerk in the office that dealt with those who were coming out to entertain the troops. She remembered meeting singer Gracie Fields and told her family “she was a lovely lady”.

But more importantly she met husband-to-be Billy who was in Naples with the Army and the couple were engaged on Helen’s 21st birthday.

They initially lived in Bellshill, moving to Stenhousemuir in 1972 where Bill was the building officer for Central Regional Council and Helen worked in the offices at Bellsdyke Hospital.