A young mum married her partner at a hospice last week – just four days before she tragically died of cancer.
Lyndsey McKeown, 35, wed the love of her life, Daniel, in Dublin in front of family, friends and their sons Rian, 12, Riley, 10, and seven-year-old Carson. Now friends have rallied to support her bereaved husband and kids as they face another devastating blow with the risk of being left homeless.
Former hairdresser Lyndsey passed away at Harold’s Cross Hospice this week after a courageous fight against the illness. She had been given the all-clear from cervical cancer in February. But sadly it returned and she died of stomach cancer.
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It was the second tragedy to hit the family in the space of a month with Lyndsey’s mother Anne passing away on July 23. Now friends are trying to raise urgent money to help the family as they need to find alternative accommodation to their current home.
Pal Sharon Ogden told how widower Daniel is a full-time dad to his sons, two of whom have additional needs as they live with autism and ADHD. She said: “Everybody is broken over her death. Lyndsey was an incredible person and that’s why everybody loved her.
“I used to call her Mother Teresa in a tracksuit because she was just so good to everybody. She sang and danced herself through life too, even on her worst days.
“She lit everybody’s life up and would do anything for you.” Sharon set up a GoFundMe page over a year ago when Lyndsey was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
She added: “She got the all clear in February this year but she fell sick in May. She kept complaining of a pain in her shoulder. “When they did a full body scan she had a massive tumour in the back of her stomach.
“They told her it was stage four and was obviously
something which had been growing for years. They just didn’t spot it. In the last three weeks it had spread to her bowels.
"They did an operation because she was young and wanted to give her some quality of life but unfortunately she became very, very ill this week.” Brave Lyndsey put up a strong fight against the illness which would eventually claim her life.
Sharon said: “She was in St James’s Hospital for 14 weeks. Her mother passed away three weeks ago from respiratory problems and she was meant to go to the funeral but had been vomiting all night long and she didn’t realise it was in her bowels.
"She was in the hospice for six days before she passed away. Her son’s birthday was on August 13 and she waited until after that to go.
“She adored the boys.” Sharon told how Daniel and the boys face trying to find alternative accommodation as the house they are in is being sold.
She said: “They are in a council house which is rented privately from a landlord. They then went and got the HAP [Housing Assistance Payment] scheme so now they are hoping to be housed locally by the council.
"The landlord of where they currently are is selling but is nice in that he is giving them time, but they do face having nowhere to live if it’s not sorted soon. It’s the last thing Daniel and the boys need to be worrying about at the moment.”
Mourners at Lyndsey’s funeral at The Assumption Church in Ballyfermot, Dublin, heard of the impact she had on people’s lives. Her sister Ealish said: “Lyn lived life to the full and had no filter whatsoever. She was like our second mother, always wanting to look after us and make sure we were safe and OK.
“Lyn had a tough few last weeks but she still managed to get everyone to laugh around her.” And she recalled how her sister had the perfect wedding day.
Ealish added: “She had the best day and was the princess she always wanted to be.”
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