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‘Goodbyes hurt the most when the story isn’t finished yet...’
The words above completely ring true to my family and I as on May 22nd 2017 my beautiful, selfless and loving sister was suddenly taken from us, she was only 35 years old and an amazing single parent to my niece Chloe. For those of you who don’t know the situation surrounding my sisters death here is a bit of background information:
Laura had been in hospital for a few weeks weeks receiving treatment for an infection in her foot which started as a small cut which wouldn’t heal. Shortly after being admitted to hospital she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes which gives some explanation as to why the infection in her foot was not healing quickly. During the few weeks she was in hospital she was given lots of antibiotics and an operation for the infection and was trained to use, and quickly mastered (like she did with most things)her new medication for the diabetes. When she was discharged from hospital she was actually looking healthier than she had done in a long time.
A few days after being discharged from hospital my sister started to feel unwell again and by Saturday she decided to contact Nhs 24 for some advice after developing a rash. She was initially advised to attend out of hours at Kingscross hospital which she did and was then eventually sent to Ninewells hospital later that day. She spent the rest of Saturday in the admissions ward where she stayed until she was admitted to dermatology on Sunday morning 21st May as they suspected the rash she had was an allergic reaction to antibiotics she had been prescribed – a rash is one of the main signs of sepsis. Laura was then moved to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) On Sunday evening as her kidneys had stopped working properly and she had some confusion (another two common indicators of Sepsis) and we were advised by doctors she may have pneumonia. Around 9am On Monday 22nd May Laura was moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after deteriorating rapidly over night.
A few hours later after sitting in a tiny room with no windows we finally got an update from doctors on Laura’s condition and this was the first time I heard the words ‘sepsis’ being mentioned. Unfortunately this diagnosis was too late for my sister and she passed away a few hours later.
Until one year ago I rarely knew anything about Sepsis however have since discovered that it kills 44,000 people in the UK every year and roughly one person every four hours dies as a result of sepsis. Although it won’t help bring Laura back as a family we are glad that the UK Sepsis Charity F.E.A.T and the Scottish Government have created a successful partnership which has released a Scotland-wide campaign to raise public awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis which should hopefully help to save the lives of 1,000 Scots each year who otherwise would have died from sepsis.
Laura was a former Ninewells staff nurse, who later worked in Whitehills Health and Community Centre. Laura was always smiling and had a really optimistic nature about her. She was a frequent sight at Lowson Memorial Church and was a very active member within the Lowson Church Community. She volunteered there for many years giving most of her free time to help with church activities and fundraising efforts. Laura loved music (she was also a well-known member of Forfar Musical Society for many years) and when our family were trying to come up with ideas for fundraising in her memory it seemed a perfect idea to try and put on a concert.
I am a member of the local ‘Friends’ Choir, A group of Angus Minstrels past present and friends which over the years has become an established group. The choir have raised around £30,000 for various causes and they have kindly agreed to help my family raise some money for F.E.A.T.
1)The concert will take place on Sunday 19th August at 7pm in the Lowson Church in Forfar and tickets (which only cost £10) can be bought by contacting myself on lollg1984@aol.com or 07841488397.
2)Also during the day on August 19th my Dad, alongside other family members and friends, will be taking part in the Dundee Kiltwalk walking 25 miles from St Andrews to Broughty Ferry.
3)And to add to our fundraising efforts on this day my twin sister will be taking part in her first (and probably last lol) 10k in Forfar !!!
Also
4) Recently I received a message from some of Laura's Colleagues who advised that they are organising to do a sponsored walk to help raise funds in Laura's memory! This is scheduled to take place in September and we will add this to the funds raised from the efforts on 19th August.
If you would like to donate to our page then we would be truly appreciative and please get in touch if you would like tickets for our concert which is sure to be a great evening of music to suit all tastes!
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