FIONA Carlisle was a family woman who lost her battle with lung cancer at just 55-years-old.
But it is her family links that will ensure her legacy lives on, as the Greenwood resident’s husband Paul and four children have raised more than $5000 for Silver Chain in her honour.
“It started as a simple idea,” daughter Sarah Strachan said.
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READ NOW“Mum wanted to dye her hair purple because she had lost so much of it in such a short time.
“To support her, we all dyed a purpled streak into our hair – even my nan, who is usually such an old school straight shooter.
“We had a goal of raising $500 but as soon as we put it on social media with the hashtag #GoPurpleforFiona it spread so quickly.
“We’d tell mum every time a new donation came in or someone posted a picture of their purple hair and she was so humbled by it all because she was always such a giving person – she couldn’t believe people cared.
“We’ve been able to raise close to $2500 from friends and family and my dad agreed to match the final donation.”
Ms Strachan said before Mrs Carlisle got sick, the family thought Silver Chain was “just for old people” and did not realise how much care and support they provided.
“At first, Silver Chain would visit once a day to help with medication support but when things started to go downhill, they were at our house up to six times a day to help with their palliative care services,” she said.
“There were times when she could have gone to hospital but thanks to the support we had, she didn’t need to.
“It meant we could have mum at home for a bit longer and it gave us more time to spend with her.
“We hope our fundraising can help raise awareness of the great work Silver Chain does because as my mum said, ‘you would never know you need them until you do’.”
