To lose a loved one is deeply tragic. For those left behind, the pain can be incomprehensible. Everyone has a story to tell about loss, and this is Giulio’s story.
In September 2022, Giulio and his wife Sarah, moved to Brancaster, North Norfolk to enjoy their retirement years. Excited by their future life by the sea and by settling into a new community, they were immersed in planning, meeting new people and organising family visits. Then Sarah began to feel poorly. With no previous signs of illness, medical investigations began and in November 2022, Sarah was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Following a short stay in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, she was admitted to Tapping House hospice, where she fought bravely to spend the short few weeks she had left with her family. Four days before Christmas day, just three months after moving to Norfolk, Sarah died peacefully, at Tapping House, with Giulio by her side.
Giulio and their three boys were utterly heartbroken.
The speed in which cancer stole Sarah from her family is an all too familiar story. In a heartbeat, everything had changed. Tapping House supported the family to spend precious moments together, with Sarah alert and as comfortable as possible thanks to the specialist palliative care expertise available on the in-patient unit, spending time in the gardens and with Giulio by her side overnight.
The depth of gratitude the family and Giulio have given to the hospice is remarkable and is the inspiration behind a very special fundraising event this Autumn. On Friday October 18th, Verdi’s much loved opera ‘La Traviata’, will be performed in the unique and historic setting of Sandringham House, the country retreat of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Verdi’s ‘story of love and death’ will be a fitting, beautiful tribute honouring the life of Giulio’s beloved wife and all proceeds from the opera event will raise funds for Tapping House, in recognition of the care and support given to Sarah in the last weeks of her life.
Giulio Codacci-Pisanelli said “The extraordinary loving care and unwavering support the team at Tapping House showed to my wife Sarah and continue to provide to families every day is truly impeccable. It’s the expertise and thoughtful care that provoke a feeling of gratitude in all those who have been supported by the Hospice.
“In life and death, it is the power of love that provides such hope and comfort within families. Tapping House provide a beautiful setting, nursing and a helping hand to patients and loved ones at a difficult moment in their lives. They give families the crucial time they need to say goodbye in the most precious way possible.”
Nicola Ellis, CEO said “As Tapping House look forward our 40th year of providing outstanding hospice care, we are delighted to begin our celebrations with this extraordinary event at Sandringham House. The opera will be a heartfelt tribute to Sarah and the Codacci-Pisanelli family, as well as an opportunity to mark an important moment in Tapping House’s story. We are hugely grateful to Giulio for making this event happen and look forward to the beginning of what promises to be an exciting 40th year.”
