On the night before Jac died her ‘Suffolk’ sister telephoned Jim Perrin to enquire about her; this was in the evening, after he had left the hospital. He told her that Jac ‘was much brighter’ and that ‘the jaundice had improved’. She was very disturbed by this as she had until that moment no idea that Jac had been jaundiced, and her ‘Yorkshire’ sister, who also telephoned Jim Perrin that evening, was not told of it at all; indeed he said to her ‘I think she is a little better tonight’. He gave no indication to either sister of any undue concern despite what, subsequently — and in clear contradiction — he wrote in West.

So far from being unconscious, ref. page 271, her ‘Suffolk’ sister spoke to her for a very long time: ‘Hey Jac, we have been on the phone for over two hours!’ before they said their goodnights, and her ‘Yorkshire’ sister also spoke with her afterwards, even later that same evening. Conversations which took place after Jim Perrin had left Jac in the hospital…

By now she was extremely tired — it was nearly midnight — and mazy, so her ‘Yorkshire’ sister suggested to her that she would contact her ‘Welsh’ sister and tell her not to ring that night, but, on Jac’s behalf, she would say goodnight to her — and to this Jac agreed. Continue reading →

Towards the end of our ‘Yorkshire’ sister’s last visit to Wales on that May bank holiday, Jac was experiencing considerable pain — it would later become apparent that her disease, which had spread to her liver, was the reason for this distress but we didn’t realise it at the time.

She had a hospital appointment, booked for Wednesday, at the outpatients’ clinic. Instead, they kept her in for observation although she had taken absolutely nothing at all with her in the way of necessities; and she told us — after this change of plan — that she would be staying in, but only overnight.

In fact, with ‘observations’, meeting with her consultant, waiting for the results of tests, and the ‘week-end’ those last days slipped quickly by; at least we knew that she was able to rest and to be properly cared for in a safe environment free from the continual harassment to which she had been subjected at home… Continue reading →

We had intended to move forward with the story of Jac’s life from our preceding post, but as it raised so many unsettling memories we decided that this is the appropriate point at which to take issue with the author, Jim Perrin, concerning his ‘flawed’ — actually dishonest — accounts of the time leading up to, and including, our sister’s death.

We shall be specific when we write of this and there can be no question that our statements are not absolutely accurate.

Our sister was doing her utmost to fight the cancer with which she had been beset. She spoke to all three of us regularly and at length, in person and by telephone and her nearest sisters saw her either at her own home in Wales or when she went to stay in Yorkshire.

Her ‘Yorkshire’ sister went down to Wales twice during that Christmas period and on four subsequent occasions, the last of which was the May bank holiday just prior to Jac going into the Chester hospital. In between these visits she had been taken by her daughter to Yorkshire where she stayed for three peaceful weeks, choosing to be away from Jim Perrin’s domination. Even so, while she was with her ‘Yorkshire’ sister, he hounded her relentlessly with an endless bombardment of letters — these will be the subjects of future posts. (Even worse were his telephone calls; Jac found them so upsetting she asked her sister no longer to pass the phone to her… and to tell him not to call.)

So it can clearly be seen that as well as all her other many contacts with family and friends our sister was not, in the least little bit, ‘neglected’ as Jim Perrin wrote in his accusatory terms, ref. West, page 6, and every effort was made by those who loved her to support her during this, the most vulnerable, period of her life. (And, it is relevant to add, despite his many attempts to prevent them from doing so.)

Jac’s sisters.