A mum died on Christmas Day just weeks after being given a devastating diagnosis.
Kirsten Hawksey started noticing bruises on her legs but dismissed them until they began to worsen, with the mum to then 15-month-old Penelope going to the doctors to get it checked. When the results of a blood test back she was immediately admitted to the Royal Liverpool Hospital after doctors diagnosed her with Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia on November 27.
But on Christmas Eve 2017, the 23-year-old, who had celebrated her birthday just weeks earlier, fell ill when she contracted a lung infection and was transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital in Greater Manchester. Kirsten's immune system had crashed with the mum being placed on life support and a lung-bypass machine as a result.
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The next day, on Christmas Day, Kirsten suffered a bleed on her brain and later that day her heartbroken family had to make the devastating decision to turn her life support machine off. Since the tragic death, Kirsten's family have spent the last five years raising money for charity, most notably Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT).
In total, the loving family of Kirsten have managed to raise more than £36,800 in her name through a range of activities done in her honour. Most recently, Kirsten's friends and family managed to raise £5,563 by holding a charity event at the Crosby Comrades Club in Liverpool.
Speaking to the ECHO after Kirsten's death, her dad Neil, from Crosby, said: "She was fit and well apart from this bruising. We said ‘go to the doctors’ but she said ‘I’m alright’ - she just thought it was from the baby.
“But it got to the point when she was in the house and she showed us her legs and we said you need to do to the doctors. The bruises looked like - what I can only describe as when you have been paintballing.
“Doctors asked her if she had felt tired and she said 'yes but not exceptionally so'. She had a 15-month-old daughter and worked full time - she was bound to be tired.
“We thought she could be anaemic or something. She actually Googled the symptom and it came back saying leukaemia. But it was just laughed off because she wasn’t sick.”
Kellie Baines, Kirsten’s Aunt, previously told The ECHO: "I decided to do the first charity night in 2018 in honour of our beautiful Kirsten, and to gather family and friends together, who were all affected by the sudden tragic loss of our Kirst. We also wanted to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust who had supported Kirsten and our family, and still continue to do so.
"Everything we have organised since, including Pretty Muddy, online Raffles, golf and football tournaments, skydives, Snowdonia, then last week's charity night is all done to keep Kirsten’s memory alive, whilst raising money for such an important charity. Keeping her memory alive is so important to us as a family, especially for her daughter Nelle.
"We want her to grow up knowing how amazing her mummy was and how much she is loved by everyone who met her. We miss her every day and doing these events and raising money in Kirst’s memory to help other families like ours, is something we will continue to do.”
“On behalf of myself and family we would like to thank each and every one of the people who helped out with the charity event, we are always overwhelmed with the amount of generosity.”
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