I had to tell my dying husband we were being made bankrupt - the government has to do more

Audrey and Eddie Buckham worked hard and saved each their lives.

They were inactive some moving successful 2020, Audrey arsenic an head for the NHS and Eddie arsenic a dispatch driver, erstwhile Eddie started to suffer weight.

He underwent aesculapian probe and for months doctors couldn’t found what was wrong. Then, successful October 2020, Eddie was diagnosed with pancreatic crab and helium began 12 gruelling rounds of chemotherapy.

It was a physically and emotionally exhausting clip for the 64-year-old grandma from County Durham, who reduced her enactment to 3 days a week to attraction for Eddie.

‘It was assertive chemo and helium was going each 2 weeks for six months. He felt terrible, helium was bushed and had nary appetite, but helium was a fighter,’ she remembers tearfully.

While Audrey cared for her earnestly sick husband, she recovered herself facing poorness for the archetypal clip successful her life.

With Eddie nary longer earning, and her wage importantly reduced, Audrey watched helplessly arsenic the bills racked up. The mates went from taking location much than £3,000 a period to ending up thousands successful debt.

Up to 15% of end-of-life carers unrecorded successful poverty, according to a caller study published today. Research by foundation Marie Curie recovered that up to 3 quarters of a cardinal radical crossed the UK supply unpaid attraction to terminally sick loved ones each twelvemonth and that astatine slightest 22,500 of these are surviving beneath the poorness line.

Alarmingly, this fig sharply increases successful the twelvemonth pursuing a bereavement with ceremonial poverty, nonaccomplishment of benefits and pensions, lodging insecurity and impacts connected employment contributing factors.

Marie Curie is urging the UK Government to widen Carers Allowance entitlement, from 2 months to six months aft a bereavement.

The foundation is besides calling connected the UK Government to usage its Employment Rights Bill to present a caller statutory close to paid Carers Leave, to assistance unpaid carers equilibrium their caring and employment responsibilities.

The foundation is besides proposing a State Pension-level of income warrant for working-age radical surviving with a terminal illness, to supply amended fiscal enactment for them and their household astatine the extremity of life.

Audrey and Eddie managed connected astir £2,000 a period from Audrey’s salary, Eddie’s Personal Independence Payment, Employment and Support Allowance and pensions, but by Spring Audrey had to halt moving due to the fact that she couldn’t attraction for him afloat clip and proceed working.

‘It was horrendous. I was exhausted. Going to and fro from hospital. Every time was the aforesaid and with nary clip for yourself. You get tally down and get each acold and flu going around. It took a toll connected my body.

‘We were good financially earlier Eddie got ill. We had capable wealth to unrecorded connected and everything was comfortable. But astir a period earlier Eddie died, I realised we couldn’t transportation connected immoderate more,’ she remembers.

By spring, the mates were astir £10,000 successful indebtedness and Audrey had to record for bankruptcy. In May 2022, doctors gave the mates the heartbreaking quality that determination was thing much they could bash for Eddie.

‘I was truthful disquieted astir money. It felt terrible. I felt sick each day. I’d ne'er had to spell done thing similar that before. I felt horrible. I didn’t privation to load Eddie with wealth worries, but successful the extremity I had to archer him and we cried together.

It was truthful upsetting, to person to spell to idiosyncratic who is dying with that news. And past helium felt that it was his responsibility that we were successful that situation.

‘It was upsetting for Eddie due to the fact that helium was disquieted astir america and however we would header aft helium died. And we were disquieted astir him - and astir money. It was heartbreaking for the full family.

People shouldn’t person to beryllium disquieted similar that successful their last weeks.

‘I felt unspeakable watching him die. It’s hard to explicate however it is. You conscionable privation to outcry each the clip but you privation to beryllium beardown for him and the remainder of the family. I sometimes utilized to spell successful the store and cry,’ she remembers.

Eddie, Audrey’s hubby of 37 years, went into a hospice and died successful June 2022.

In the aftermath of his decease Audrey faced a immense magnitude of medication and was besides disquieted astir however she would marque ends meet.

‘It was a frantic clip and I wasn’t successful the close framework of mind.

I astir mislaid my car, which I’d request to spell backmost to work. But due to the fact that it was lone worthy £4,000 they didn’t instrumentality it. And I was disquieted I mightiness not beryllium capable to wage for the funeral.’

Fortunately, the burial was covered by security and Audrey was discharged from bankruptcy successful May past twelvemonth and has since returned to work.

She believes it volition beryllium a agelong clip earlier she tin discontinue and the past fewer years person been a harrowing clip made worse by wealth worries.

‘No-one should person to spell done specified a nightmare erstwhile caring for a dying loved one,’ she adds.

• For much accusation sojourn mariecurie.org.uk/support oregon telephone the Marie Curie Support Line connected 0800 090 2309.