Shareece to take on skydive for Kirkcaldy hospice in memory of her ‘Pops’

Shareece Wallace will be taking the plunge for the Kirkcaldy facility after the care given to a man who was effectively her grandfather.

Raibeart Seamus Stiubhart, known as Pops to Shareece and her family, passed away after battling cancer on February 4, just one day away from his 66th birthday, and Shareece has paid for the skydive out of her own pocket so all donations can go straight to the hospice.

Shareece, who lives in Glasgow, explained why she was raising cash for the Fife facility.

She said: “I’m doing it because Pops has not long passed with cancer. He wasn’t told long before, but the hospice staff were so nice. They couldn’t have been any nicer in looking after him.

“I couldn’t have been happier with the hospice.”

Shareece said that she has always wanted to try skydiving, and using the task to raise funds for the hospice seemed like a good idea.

She said: “It’s something I’d wanted to do, and I spoke to Pops about it before he passed, and he was saying it’d be such a nice thing to do to raise money.

“It’s not just to raise money, it would make him proud too.

“I’m excited, I can’t wait.”

Shareece’s skydive will take place over Fife on July 13.

Shareece’s mum, Saffi, said she was extremely proud of her daughter.

She said that Shareece often helps out at charity events.

“She works hard constantly, she does everything she can for charities, she’s an absolutely loving soul. She’s amazing.

“The hospice in Kirkcaldy relies on donations, he was only there for a short time, just under two weeks. They were absolutely fantastic with him and visitors.”

Saffi said that while Raibeart was officially a friend, he had become a father figure to her.

“I’m not his real daughter, I looked after him most of my adult life.

“To me he was my dad, he’s the only father figure I’ve had in my life, since I was a little girl.

“He was there all the way through my pregnancy with my youngest and helped with everything.

“He was a chef in the Royal Engineers, and he didn’t keep in good health. He had post-traumatic stress, and alzheimers, so his health really wasn’t too good in the last 15 years.

“He went into sheltered housing at Kinghorn for a few years and then moved to Markinch in the last year.

“Just before Christmas we were told they thought he had cancer in a kidney.

“Then just after the new year they told us there was nothing they could do. They gave us a maximum of eight weeks.

“It was fast, really fast.”

The Victoria Hospice is an inpatient unit which is located within the grounds of Victoria Hospital.

It offers specialist palliative care beds to those who have life-limiting illnesses.

To sponsor Shareece, go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/shareece-wallace-2