An elderly cancer patient has died just hours after she was granted her final wish to be reunited with her favourite horse as she laid in her hospital bed. 
 
 Sheila Marsh told staff at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan she wanted to say a last goodbye to her horse, Bronwen, whom she had looked after for 25 years. 
 
 They arranged for two of her horses to be brought to the hospital car park on Monday and the 77-year-old grandmother was wheeled outside by nurses in her bed. 
 
 With family permission here is the amazing photo of a (sadly now RIP) patient being granted her dying wish @WWLNHS pic.twitter.com/UyqfnxrsQ3 — Andrew Foster (@andrewkfoster) November 7, 2014 
 
 After Mrs Marsh gently called to Bronwen, the animal bent down gently and nuzzled her cheek - with the moment captured in a touching photograph by hospital staff. 
 
 Mrs Marsh, a mother-of-two who used to work at Haydock Park Racecourse, died hours later on Monday night. 
 
 Her daughter Tina, 33, praised staff at the hospital for helping her mother achieve her final wish. 
 
 "I was happy because she got to see her favourite horse," she said. 
 
 "She had a big smile on her face and she was able to say Bronwen's name, after she had found it difficult to speak. 
 
 "The staff were absolutely fantastic. The nurses who looked after mum were brilliant." 
 
 Thanks to so many of you who have tweeted appreciation for this extraordinary act of NHS compassion from @WWLNHS pic.twitter.com/1NocAWIGTw — Andrew Foster (@andrewkfoster) November 7, 2014 
 
 Bereavement specialist nurse Gail Taylor said Mrs Marsh, from Wigan, had also been reunited with her dog who spent an hour on the ward curled up in a blanked next to her. 
 
 She said: "End-of-life care with our patients is paramount and fundamental to what we do. 
 
 "We put our patients and family at the centre of everything we do, especially in their last days or hours of life. We listened and acted on Mrs Shelia Marsh's last wishes. 
 
 "We have captured many pictures of this special moment to be collated into a commemorative photo album which we will present to Tina and family." 
 
 Pauline Law, deputy director of nursing, said: "I am really pleased to have been able to facilitate the visit from Mrs Marsh's horse. 
 
 "This was obviously extremely important to her and her family and we feel privileged to have been able to provide this support at this crucial stage of her care. 
 
 "It is absolutely right that we should pull out all the stops to ensure that our patients and their families receive personalised, compassionate and dignified care at the end of their life and this is what we will always strive to achieve." ||||| Mother-of-two recovering from breast cancer dies in fall from horse as she attempted bucket list task of galloping along a beach 
 
 Geraldine Jones, 51, had just been given the all-clear from breast cancer 
 
 After diagnose in 2010, she promised herself she would gallop on a beach 
 
 Mother-of-two died from her injuries after she was thrown off the horse 
 
 
 
 By Lucy Osborne 
 
 Tragedy: Geraldine Jones, 51, had just beaten breast cancer when she died after falling off a horse at a beach in South Wales 
 
 It was her dream to ride a galloping horse along a beach with the wind in her hair. 
 
 
 
 Breast cancer sufferer Geraldine Jones promised herself she would achieve her goal if she survived the disease – and finally got her chance when she was given the all-clear after four years. 
 
 
 
 But the 51-year-old’s longed-for moment turned into bitter tragedy when she was thrown off her horse and died. 
 
 
 
 Her friend – an experienced rider – and a passing jogger administered first aid and a coastguard rescue team was sent to the scene. 
 
 
 
 But despite their efforts, Mrs Jones was pronounced dead in an air ambulance. 
 
 
 
 While undergoing treatment for cancer, the mother-of-two is thought to have written a list of things she wanted to do when she beat the illness – a twist on the ‘bucket lists’ prepared by those with a terminal condition. 
 
 
 
 After learning that she was free of cancer, Mrs Jones started her bid to tick off all the items on her list. 
 
 
 
 She began by going on holiday to Gower in south Wales last Sunday to visit a friend and ride horses together along the picturesque Llangennith Beach. 
 
 
 
 Another friend said: ‘Riding on the sand was something Geraldine was really looking forward to. We’ve been told there was a huge smile on her face as she walked down to the beach.’ 
 
 
 
 Mrs Jones’s husband Tim, 53 – with whom she had two sons, Olly, 16, and 12-year-old Henry – was too distraught to speak yesterday at home in Fownhope, Herefordshire. 
 
 
 
 A neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘He has been inconsolable ever since. She had faced this cancer battle and they had overcome it together … And then this goes and happens. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything more tragic in my life. 
 
 
 
 ‘She has always wanted to ride a horse on the beach … It was part of her bucket list … Our hearts just go out to her husband and two young boys.’ 
 
 Accident: Mrs Jones was fulfilling her dream of riding down a beach on horseback when she was thrown off, suffering fatal injuries 
 
 Scene: The incident took place at Llangennith Beach on the Gower Peninsula, South Wales, last Sunday 
 
 Fighter: Mrs Jones, is survived by her husband, Tim, and her two sons Oliver and Henry 
 
 The neighbour added: ‘Her experience of cancer, the uncertainty at the time and the news that treatment had been successful, created a heightened appreciation of the smallest things and a greater determination in her that she would live life to the full, be a successful businesswoman and spend quality time with her family.’ 
 
 
 
 Mrs Jones, who had been the head of marketing and communications at St Michael’s Hospice near Hereford, was first diagnosed with cancer in 2010. 
 
 
 
 She ended her seven years at the hospice to become a freelance communications consultant 12 months ago. 
 
 
 
 Hospice staff were said to be in tears after the news of her sudden death was announced. Chief executive Nicky West said: ‘Geraldine was a much-loved member of staff at St Michael’s Hospice and her former colleagues have been devastated by the news. 
 
 
 
 ‘Geraldine’s vibrant personality and zest for life made an enormous contribution to St Michael’s. Her exceptional writing skills and empathy for patients and families helped create thought-provoking articles about our work here. 
 
 
 
 ‘Geraldine’s love of life brought joy to the people she spent time with. Her sudden death is a shock, leaving friends and former colleagues saddened and in tears.’ 
 
 
 
 Mrs Jones, who was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, was an experienced rider but had never galloped on sand before. 
 
 
 
 Swansea coroner’s office said it would not make a decision on whether to open an inquest until the results of a post-mortem examination were known. 
 
 
 
 Steve Jones, Swansea coastguard’s manager, added: ‘[The riders] were not doing anything wrong. They were just enjoying the day, as everyone was.’
– A 77-year-old woman in the UK died of cancer last week, but not before a memorable last wish was granted. Sheila Marsh wanted to see Bronwen, a horse she had cared for over the last 25 years, and staff at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan made it happen, reports the BBC. They arranged for Bronwen and another horse to come to the hospital parking lot Monday, then wheeled down Marsh in her bed. Says one nurse present: "Sheila gently called to Bronwen, and the horse bent down tenderly and kissed her on the cheek as they said their last goodbyes." An image of the reunion is tweeted here. Adds Marsh's daughter, as quoted at the Huffington Post UK: "She had a big smile on her face and she was able to say Bronwen's name, after she had found it difficult to speak" due to her illness. "She loved her horses and she loved and adored all animals," her daughter says, according to the Telegraph. Marsh, who had six horses, three dogs, three cats, and other animals, also got a visit from one of her dogs, who curled up on a blanket next to her on her bed in the hospital ward, before she died. "The dog and the horse were really pining for her so it’s closure for them as well—when they both came home they were a bit perkier," Marsh's daughter tells Wigan Today. (Click for more uplifting news.)