Wairarapa’s locally owned community newspaper
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2019
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Stories worth telling giving Emily Ireland Susan Rutene believes everyone has a story. And it’s her job at Hospice Wairarapa to document the life stories of patients. Susan has been involved with Hospice Wairarapa since before it was officially established. She trained as a hospice biographer in 2010 and is now the leader of a team of eight experienced biographers locally. There are many reasons a patient may want to do a biography. For some it is a form of therapy. “A lot of them have some great history they are wanting to pass on to future generations,” Susan said. “It adds value and significance to their life. “But, sadly many people leave it too late.” She said it usually took five to six weeks to record a person’s biography, which is printed by Hospice Wairarapa and given to loved ones in
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hard copy and on USB. Some of these biographies end up being just a few pages, but can be as big as 100 pages or more, she said. It was all up to what the patient wanted to share and how much time they had with the biographer. “It’s a real privilege,” Susan said about being a hospice biographer. “Often, the patient will tell you something that they’ve never told anyone before — even the family don’t have any idea sometimes. “That’s such an honour that they feel they can trust you with that.” Susan said some patients wanted to share just portions of their lives, whereas others preferred the biography to be chronological. “The most important part about the biography is that it’s the patient’s story and it’s what they want. “We’re not after the perfect story — we’re after their story. Continued on page 3 PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES
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