An inspirational mum with terminal cancer is being honoured by Maidstone Hospital after raising £10,000 for the ward where she receives her treatment .
Hayley Martin, 30, from Loose Road, is having a room named after her following her tireless charity work, and she will also be leading support sessions for fellow patients there . Keli Tomlin, chemotherapy day unit manager at the Hermitage Lane hospital, said: “Hayley has been instrumental in the setting up of this room, thanks to her tireless fundraising .
“Over the past year she has donated around £10,000 to us, without which it would not have been possible to create Hayley’s Room. “We decided to name the room after her as a way of saying thank you and acknowledging all the hard work she has put in .
” The room, in the Charles Dickens ward, will be officially opened on Thursday, December 11, and will be used for information sessions and monitoring patients’ post-treatment and it will be the base of the young persons’ support group . Hayley, a L’Oreal technician, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2011 and had surgery and six months of chemotherapy.
Despite getting the all-clear she was told in September last year that it had returned and was inoperable – just four months after she gave birth to her son Freddie. She says she does not want to know how much time she has left and has instead put her energy into organising everything from golf days and raffles to glitzy black-tie events to raise money for her two causes.
As well as championing the Charles Dickens ward at Maidstone hospital, she is the ambassador for Hair and Beauty Benevolent – a charity that helps members of the beauty industry in challenging times. Now friends are trying to fund a dream holiday for her and her family in Barbados.
Hayley’s Heroes has been joined by hundreds of supporters online who have been putting themselves forward for fundraising challenges and selling branded wristbands and t-shirts.