A Highland Hospice patient was treated to a special surprise on the afternoon of Sunday 8 October when two world championship finalists performed a selection of their demonstration dances for her.
Susan Reid, who is currently being cared for in the Hospice’s Inpatient Unit, couldn’t believe it when she, her friends and family were invited to Eden Court’s Jim Love Studio to see two of the world’s finest tango stars Veronica Vasquez and Damian Mechura in action.
The special treat was arranged by Highland Hospice’s pharmacist Alison MacRobbie. In her spare time, Alison teaches with TangoNess and is involved with Argentine Tango Highland who had booked Veronica and Damian to do some workshops for their students over the weekend.
Susan said, “Veronica and Damian were such wonderful dancers and lovely people. I just felt so humbled by the opportunity to experience this.”
She continued, “I am blessed to have such amazing friends and family who can’t do enough for me. There were 13 of us at the performance including my husband James and many friends, including those I used to dance with.”
Having danced from a young age, Susan has a love for tap and ballroom dancing and was a student at the Maggie Firth School of Dance before attending the Inverness Ballroom Dancing Club. She is a huge fan of Strictly Come Dancing on TV and has attended the live show in Glasgow every year.
Recently, her daughter, daughter-in-law and granddaughters Sophie (10), Ailsa (10) and Jessica (7) have been visiting the Hospice to watch Strictly with her on Saturday nights.
Susan said, “The girls just love Strictly too, but my grandson Duncan (8) is not such a big fan! I just love watching the TV show and the live shows are fantastic.”
“This surprise was just fabulous, I really was overcome and can’t thank everyone enough for making this so special for me. We really made special memories on Sunday.”
Jacqui Greenhalgh, Occupational Therapist at Highland Hospice, said, “It’s wonderful when we can arrange an experience like this for one of our patients and it was so lovely to give Susan, her friends and family such a memorable afternoon. Thanks so much to Veronica and Damian, TangoNess, Argentine Tango Highland and Eden Court for helping us to make this happen.”
