An Edinburgh family has been left heartbroken after a mother and daughter died within a month of each other. Helen Whelan died on March 25, aged 52.
Tragically, her daughter, Margaret Whelan suddenly died on April 21 aged just 24 - having been told just hours after Helen's death that she herself had only 48 hours to live. Helen's sister, Michelle Callan, spoke of the heartache she has felt at losing both her sister and niece so soon after each other.
The mum-of-four, from Craigentinny, told Edinburgh Live: "Back in October, the community nurses who visited Helen noticed she was coughing. She was treated for a chest infection but it wasn't going away. They did an x-ray and found a shadow on her lung.
"We all went up as a family and were taken into a room. We were told she had stage four cancer and had spread to her esophagus. Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy weren't an option for her because the cancer was so aggressive.
"She went downhill really fast. There was a quick change in her breathing and health generally. She went to St Columba's Hospice in Granton for a wee bit of respite. She came home for one night, but her breathing was so bad, she had to go back. And that was the last time Margaret saw her."
Helen died peacefully at around 4am on March 25. However just hours later, the family got a devastating call that Margaret, who had been living with Crohn's disease since she was 17 and was regularly in and out of hospital with severe flare-ups, just had 48 hours left to live.
Michelle, 43, said: "Margaret had a heart of gold. She would buy gifts for people, they would come through the post of Helen would deliver them. Wee gift bags for my youngest two and if anyone was in need she would always try to help them, no matter how much pain she was in.
"Margaret wasn't well [at the time Helen was in the hospice]. She was in and out of the Western General since the age of 17. She actually spent about three years straight in the hospital. By the time she got out, she had a stoma bag and a catheter but she was bed bound after, unable to walk.
"When Helen was in the hospice, Margaret was in and out of hospital. So when she went in the last time, we just thought she'd be in for a couple of weeks and then home again. That's what we thought.
"Helen passed away in the early morning, we were all just sitting with her and at 7am, Margaret's brother Michael got a phone call saying she had 48 hours left. We just couldn't wrap our heads around it. So we rushed over the Western General, and she was so ill, she couldn't really speak."
Despite her prognosis, Margaret battled on and lived for another few weeks. Michelle said the prospect of meeting new family members who were recently born gave her the drive to fight on.
Michelle said: "We were just like, 'come on, you need to get better'. She hadn't met her two baby cousins yet so I got my daughter to bring them so she could see. And she perked up and I thought, 'this is great, she's getting better'. Margaret was too ill to go to her mum's funeral but she watched in on the live feed."
Michelle then got a phone on April 21 call from her nephew Michael telling her the news that the 24-year-old had passed away, just two days after her mum's funeral.
"It's heartbreaking," she said. "I had spoken to her only two days before. She had her whole life ahead of her and spent her so much of her life in hospital. She didn't get to do anything!
"Michael's distraught and just after his mum's funeral...so I wanted to help raise some money for the funeral costs. Her and Helen were so close, so at least we know they're together now."
Michelle Callan is raising money to give Margaret 'the send off she deserves'. You can donate via gofundme.
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