Arun and Margaret first met at a staff cricket match at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital, where Arun was a Paediatric Registrar and Margaret was a Nurse. They married in 1969 and have two children and three grandchildren.
In 1979, they moved from Sheffield to Crawley, having been asked to establish a new medical practice. Due to funding being withdrawn, Arun used his own funds for the initial capital. He created an integrated health centre, with consultation rooms and a small operating theatre. The MP for Crawley at the time, Nicholas Soames, described the centre as a “thing of the future, a marvellous thing” and Arun a “pioneer”.
Arun was the lead GP and Margaret was the Practice Manager. Their success gave Margaret and Arun many opportunities to travel and enjoy wonderful experiences: “Arun gave me the opportunity to see the world”.
Arun enjoyed skiing, boating and motor racing, and he and Margaret had many exciting plans for more adventures together. This all changed when Arun was sadly diagnosed with dementia in 2020.
“I remember when Arun was diagnosed with dementia, I felt the bottom had fallen out of my world. I had lost my soul mate and best friend.”
Although Margaret was a nurse, and Arun was a GP, it still felt like entering the unknown. Arun’s symptoms left him in need of a wide range of support. They reached out to the Wayfinders at Sage House and Arun was offered a place in Day Breaks to give Margaret some respite.
"With the help, encouragement and care of everyone at Sage House Dementia Support, I realised Arun is still Arun. His loving ways, bright eyes, wonderful smile, sense of humour and naughty ways are still there."
After initially having a successful introduction to Day Breaks, Arun’s dementia deteriorated, further increasing his care needs. Unfortunately, dementia had meant Arun was unable to carry out many of the daily tasks we all take for granted. His mobility was declining, he needed support to bathe, dress, feed himself and was increasingly struggling to communicate- meaning he needed 1:1 care.
This was a devastating time for Margaret, as Arun loved coming to Sage House for Day Breaks and she was determined to give him the best possible quality of life. Their Wayfinder helped them to find care support that would still enable Arun to enjoy the bright and stimulating environment at Sage House. With support, Margaret continued to bring Arun to Sage House- attending over 300 activity sessions in 2022!
Arun sadly passed away in April 2023.
“When the time came and I had to say goodbye to my soulmate and best friend, I wanted to put my hand on my heart and say I had given Arun everything and made every day happy. The memories that are most precious and I will treasure forever are the ones after Arun was diagnosed with dementia.”
"Thank you to everyone at Sage House, without their encouragement and care I would not have been able to achieve my goal."
"I felt that by giving a regular donation, not only would my husband be remembered, but also Sage House could carry on the good work that they are doing." Please click the button below and become a Friend of Sage House to help us continue to be there for people living with dementia, now and in the future.