An ex-midwife who suffered a brain haemorrhage has discovered a talent for art and showcased her work in an exhibition.
Jayne Jones, a resident at Bryn Bella at Pendine Park care organisation, Wrexham, displayed her drawings for the first time.
The 50-year-old mum-of-three, who was found fitting by her then 16-year-old daughter Rachel five years ago, worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Jayne’s mum Lyn recalled: “It was tough – very, very hard. Love I think for your children keeps you going. They give you the energy.
“It was a really big shock when it happened. It was dreadful.
“Rachel found her, and she was only 16 at the time. She phoned me and said I think mum’s ill.
“Jayne was having a fit and I just rang for an ambulance. She wasn’t an epileptic but now she is, and they got her to hospital as soon as possible, but it was beyond doing anything. The bleeding had gone too far in the brain, and there was nothing else they could do”
Lyn believes that immersing herself in art has had a positive impact on Jayne’s life.
She said: “I think she gets a lot out of it. It gives her a way to express herself and it’s stimulating, and that’s what she needs. It’s been very good therapy for Jayne.
“They focus on what people can do at Pendine Park, not what they can’t.
“She can only use her left hand because she had a brain haemorrhage. It’s absolutely amazing that she can use her left hand at all because she’s paralyzed down her right hand side and she was right handed. So now she’s learned to use her other hand.
“I come to visit Jayne three times a week. I think this is a very good home, very good indeed. Very good nursing care, everything. They have a lot of different activities, a lot of things taking place like today. It’s always nice to get everyone all together. There’s a real community here, and we’re all friends.”
The art exhibition in which Jayne’s work was featured was organised to coincide with National Care Homes Open Day.
Care organisations across the UK organised of events and activities to strengthen the bond between care home residents and their local communities and in Wales everything is coordinated by Care Forum Wales.
At Pendine Park the activities included, a sing-along and memory workshop, food tasting, a poetry group session, a craft afternoon, afternoon tea, and keep fit and gardening.
Another budding artist’s work on display was that of Pendine Park resident Alan Hassall.
The 67-year-old ex-engineer felt very proud to have his hard work on show.
He said: “The staff at Pendine have gone to a lot of trouble to showcase everybody’s work and to celebrate it which is very good of them because it gives the person whose art is on show a lift and helps them endeavour to achieve even better the next time.
“Doing this art makes me feel accomplished where I do anything and I finally finish it. When I finish a piece it gives me a sense of pride.
“It’s very different to the drawing I was doing before for work, which was very technical. It was rigid because everything had to be a certain way.
“Now I tend to do abstract art and draw things that just come out of your mind at the time.
“It doesn’t have to look at anything in particular and It gives me a lot of freedom to what I want.
“It’s all very colourful and I’m inspired to do things that have never been done before.
“There are a lot of talented artists here. Jayne is excellent at drawing.”
Tracey, Enrichment Project Leader at Pendine Park, added: “The residents have really enjoyed it today. We’ve got a wide variety of activities going on. There are lots of talented artists here.
“The National Care Homes Open Day is a celebration throughout the UK. It’s an awareness day for care homes to open their doors and celebrate all of the good things that are going on within care homes.
“Everybody on the staff have responded to it really positively. We’ve got lots of bunting up so it’s really colourful.
“They’re all activities that were going on anyway but it’s nice to celebrate them and get everybody aware and involved. It also gives the staff recognition, and it’s saying to families.
“Families are always welcome to come and join in activities. But it’s nice to have a special day to celebrate it.”
