Life can surprise you at times with the worst kind of things. You are never sure what is going to happen in life. In one of the most heart-wrenching incidents, a 23-year-old mother of a child died on Christmas day. She was diagnosed with leukemia less than a month ago. Kirsten Hawksey was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia on November 27. She left behind her 15-month-old daughter Penelope.
After being diagnosed with leukemia on November 27, Kirsten wrote a Facebook post on December 3. It was the same day when her chemotherapy began. She thanked friends and family who forced her to go to a doctor and also requested people not to ignore any symptom.
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She wrote, "On Tuesday I was diagnosed with Leukaemia (APL) and have started Chemotherapy today.. this is by all means not a cry for sympathy because that's not like me as you will be aware haha, but more so awareness to not ignore any symptom! I never go to the doctors, so thank god for everyone pushing me to go over some unexplained bruising! I literally couldn't thank all my family, friends and work colleagues for all their support this last week. If anything I feel more lucky than unlucky. Just wanted to thank you all."
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It is a sad story that Kirsten lost her life while battling leukemia three weeks after she had posted on Facebook. She died on Christmas day. Kirsten’s dad Neil said that his gorgeous and strong-willed daughter spotted a bruising on her legs and initially she ignored it. “She actually Googled the symptom and it came back saying leukemia. But it was just laughed off because she wasn’t sick,” he said.
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As the bruise worsened further, Kirsten decided to visit doctors. Doctors conducted blood tests and leukemia was shown in the report. She was soon admitted to the Royal Liverpool University Hospital where doctors started her chemotherapy. Then, on the eve of Christmas, Kirsten contracted a lung infection. She celebrated her birthday just weeks earlier. She was transferred to Wythenshawe Hospital, in Greater Manchester.
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Soon, doctors observed that her condition was not good. Kirsten’s immune system crashed and she was immediately placed on life support and a lung bypass machine. On December 25, her brain started to bleed and when that was uncontrolled, her family had to take the decision to turn off her life support machines. The devastated family wants to spread Kirsten’s final words.
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“We didn’t even know she had posted that message on Facebook - Kirsten was very private so it was a massive shock that she had. But she obviously wanted to raise awareness and that is why we are speaking out to honor her wishes," Neil said. Neil was so shocked about his daughter’s demise. He said that she was perfectly normal in the days prior to her diagnosis of leukemia. He added that apart from that bruise, there was nothing to worry about.
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“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 anemic or something. She actually Googled the symptom and it came back saying leukemia. But it was just laughed off because she wasn’t sick," Neil recounted.
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Kirsten was very reluctant to go to a doctor as though she had nothing serious. After she was forced by friends and family for a week or so, Kirsten decided to visit a doctor. After blood tests, it was confirmed that she had Acute promyelocytic leukemia - a cancer of the white blood cells. However, Neil recounted that his daughter remained positive after the detection of cancer.
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"It was weird hearing the doctors say how ill she actually was because she was sitting there laughing and joking with me. Kirsten was not the type of girl who would moan or complain. She wasn’t a ‘why me?’ type. She was so strong-willed and she just planned to fight it and get on with life. She would never have given up fighting because of her daughter - she idolized her and completely loved her to bits. But sadly things were taken out of her control," Neil said.
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Apart from his wife, Neil’s family also had his son who was 16-year-old. They were all shocked when they heard that Kirsten had suffered a bleed on the brain. He said that the whole family just went completely numb. He added that it didn’t feel real at the moment to be honest.
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“When we were told it was leukemia I asked ‘why Kirsten?’ ‘Was it anything she did?’ ‘Could it not have been picked up when she had her daughter’? But doctors said ‘she is just unlucky’. There is no reason. She wasn’t a smoker - she drank very little, she was a hardworking, loving and gorgeous mum, daughter and granddaughter. We would not usually speak out like this but it was Kirsten’s last wish. We have had so much support from family and friends and have even had messages from people who don’t even know us which is overwhelming. We are devastated and I don’t know what we would have done without Penelope. But we will make sure she never forgets her mum,” said Neil.
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