Trish Rankin never thought she would end up back at home with her mother but the Queanbeyan woman had no choice after receiving a devastating breast cancer diagnosis in 2019, ABC News reports.
Ms Rankin's aggressive triple-positive HER2 breast cancer subsequently travelled to her brain, with the illness and treatments taking an incredible toll on her health.
"I had to move back with my mum because of my health. She's looking after me but she's not getting any younger," Ms Rankin said.
She is sharing her story in support of a planned respite care facility in Queanbeyan, south of the ACT border.
"We need this in Queanbeyan because we have none, we've only got a nursing home and hospital," Ms Rankin said.
"We need it for our loved ones and carers to have a break."
The facility, called Yvonne Cuschieri House, will be built by local charity Respite Care for Queanbeyan before a third party is sought to carry out the service.
It will allow carers to have a break while their loved ones are supported.
The University of New South Wales's Canberra branch examined the proposal and found that non-clinical respite could relieve about 50 per cent of the overall cost burden from public hospital admissions of carers and could cost as little as 10 per cent of the cost of an emergency department visit.
FULL STORY
PHOTO
Trish Rankin has welcomed a planned respite facility in Canberra which could offer her carer a break.(ABC News: Pedro Ribeiro)
