Life is turned upside down by the sudden onset of a serious illness – and Lynne Jones knows this only too well.

At 48 the mother-of-two had a normal, active lifestyle. She worked, enjoyed holidays abroad and was relishing her new role as a grandmother.

Lynne’s diagnosis with ovarian and bowel cancer, and a major heart attack – all before her 50th birthday – should have changed all that.

But with the help of the St Giles Hospice Community Team of Clinical Nurse Specialists, who support people with cancer and other serious illnesses in their own homes, Lynne is rebuilding her life – which she says she owes to them.

“I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2004,” explains the 51-year-old, who lives in Tamworth.

“The community nurse for my local doctor’s surgery asked if I’d been in touch with St Giles and referred me to the hospice.

“I had heard about the charity, but I have to admit I was scared. I thought hospices were a place people went to die. As it was, that referral saved my life.”

Lynne experienced first-hand how her St Giles Clinical Nurse Specialist, Gillian Winser, will go beyond the call of duty to help her patients.

“It was Gillian who knew when I was being treated for ovarian cancer that there was something else wrong,” Lynne explains. “She rang the hospital and got me an immediate appointment which diagnosed bowel cancer. I then had an emergency operation and without it I would have died.”

Lynne received weekly visits from Gillian during the worst of her illness. With husband Tony (52) and daughter and son living close by she decided to be cared for at home rather than at the hospice in Whittington.

Now her cancer is in remission, she stays in contact with the St Giles Community Team by phone, and knows they are always there for her.

“Gillian keeps me sane,” says Lynne, who remains in good humour despite the desperate times the past three years have brought. “She’s got a way with her that means I can tell her more than anyone else.

“When I’m feeling down she reassures me that I can cope, and she’s a star when it comes to getting help with my treatment. I couldn’t do it without her.”

Although Lynne returned to work part-time at TRW Automotive Electronics, she has since had to give up employment – the heart attack which nearly claimed her life has left her body permanently weakened.

“It wasn’t what most people want for their 50th birthday,” Lynne jokes. “It was a Bank Holiday Monday, a week before the big day, and my husband was at home.

“I had been feeling poorly over the weekend but then I had terrible pins and needles and started to be sick.

“Thanks to Tony the paramedics were there within minutes. I died five times and the doctors later congratulated me for still being alive after having been administered 11 shocks, which is something of a record.”

Her good humour – teamed with Gillian’s support – has also helped Lynne through chemotherapy.

“Gillian taught me to listen to my body,” says Lynne. “When my cancer was first diagnosed I continued to do everything like a bull at a gate and wore myself out because of the treatment. Now I take things steadily.

“I was also embarrassed by the hair loss from the chemotherapy – and annoyed because I’d just grown my hair longer and had it coloured – but I hated the wig I bought so I went without.

“No one seemed to mind, and my experience of cancer has opened my eyes to how many people have it. You just don’t realise until you see how many people are being cared for by St Giles.”

The St Giles Community Team, being part of the hospice, comprises St Giles’ own nurses who have no connection with any national charity. The nurses are there to help patients and their families at any stage of an illness.

Each member of the Community Team is a St Giles Clinical Nurse Specialist – Registered Nurses with extra training in specialist palliative care, employed by St Giles Hospice, who work closely with other health care professionals, agencies and community services to ensure the best care and support is provided.

To find out more about the Community Team at St Giles, and the range of other services the hospice provides, call the Community Team on 01543 434528.

St Giles Hospice is one of the best-known and most respected charities in the region, offering high-quality nursing and medical care for people with cancer and other serious illness, as well as providing support for their families and carers. St Giles Hospice is an independent charity and has no connection with any national charity, other than as a member of the hospice support charity, Help the Hospices.

Patients come from across the hospice’s catchment area, which ranges from Ashby de la Zouch in the east, to Cannock and Walsall in the west – and from Burton and Uttoxeter in the north, to Sutton Coldfield and Coleshill in the south.

Care is offered at the hospice's facilities in Sutton Coldfield and Whittington between Lichfield and Tamworth, or in patients' own homes across the region.

The range of high-quality, specialist services are expensive to provide, and the hospice relies heavily on donations and fundraising – including proceeds from the St Giles Hospice Lottery and network of 14 charity shops.