When life comes to an end, they are there: Voluntary hospice attendants visit the terminally ill.
Your work is not only an important help for the dying - but also for their relatives.
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Voluntary hospice attendants from the Maltese outpatient hospice service in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising accompany terminally ill adults and children.
For the relatives, too, the help is often a great relief in a very difficult time.
The helpers are trying to maintain contact with the sick despite the corona pandemic.
Munich
- Brigitte Brückner was always a strong, independent woman.
She fled the GDR, studied and later lived in the USA for some time.
She raised her daughter Gabriele on her own, working on the side was important to her.
Even as a pensioner, she had many plans: She wanted to travel, visit the Bayreuth Festival, enjoy life.
Then, in the spring of 2019, came “the emergency stop,” as her daughter Gabriele Brückner puts it: cancer.
The 84-year-old struggled - but in May of this year it was clear: she could not defeat the disease.
“It was important to me to bring my mother home from the hospital,” says Gabriele Brückner.
In such a situation, relatives are initially overwhelmed, after all a lot has to be organized and the burden is enormous.
Gabriele Brückner felt the same way.
The 51-year-old works full-time and, like her mother, lived in Munich - but at the other end of town.
“Unfortunately, I didn't manage some things in time,” she says.
And this is exactly where Robert Oertel came into play, a friendly man who openly approaches others.
The 60-year-old is involved as a hospice attendant at the Maltese outpatient hospice service in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.
There volunteers accompany terminally ill adults and children with their families.
But the focus is not on death - but on life.
"The accompaniment should do you good and make you happy", explains Ina Weichel, head of the Maltese hospice work.
For some, it is enough to sit by the bed, hold your hand, just be there.
Others are happy when they can do something with the hospice attendant.
Keep in touch despite the corona pandemic
At the moment everything is a little more difficult because of the corona pandemic.
"But we try to keep in touch," says Weichel.
During the severe restrictions, utilities, letters, and phone calls were particularly important.
“We want people to feel that we haven't forgotten them.” On the contrary: They receive a great gift.
"The hospice attendants are wasting time."
The hospice attendants are wasting time
Ina Weichel, head of the Maltese hospice work
But not everyone finds it easy to accept that.
It was the same with Brigitte Brückner.
She, who was always informed about everything and attached great importance to independence, was initially skeptical when her daughter suggested the outpatient hospice service.
But then Robert Oertel visited her for the first time.
Usually a Malteser employee is present at the first meeting, but this was not possible due to Corona.
So he was waiting for her in front of the house alone, wearing a mask.
“It was agreed that we would go to the hairdresser's,” he says.
“We talked in the car and got on well.” On the way back, the two agreed on the next meeting - a visit to the ear doctor and the Blutenburg palace complex.
It was also a relief for Gabriele Brückner that it went so well.
Shortly afterwards she brought food to her mother.
“She welcomed me with a beaming face,” she reports.
The hair was done, the visit to the hairdresser was a topic of conversation.
"Mr. Oertel drove me," said the mother.
“He's a real man.
I don't have to ask him, he offers himself. ”Gabriele Brückner knew then that the company was the right decision.
The task is also enriching for the helpers
Robert Oertel also has not regretted taking the hospice attendant course last year.
Before that, he took part in a so-called "last aid course".
“My mother was in need of care,” he says.
“Unfortunately, we know far too little about the subject of dying.” After the course, he decided to continue working on it.
“It's enriching for me too,” he says.
“Some things in life take on a different meaning and value.” Where death creeps up, you can feel what really matters.
Oertel often has a good time with the sick.
“We have interesting conversations,” he says.
"I also learned."
Robert Oertel and Brigitte Brückner met three times.
A fourth appointment had already been made, the 84-year-old wanted to visit a friend.
But that never happened.
Brigitte Brückner died on July 24th.
