Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Heartrending final Facebook post of young mother who died on Christmas Day

'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'

Lucy Pasha-Robinson
Friday 29 December 2017 12:22 GMT
Comments
Kirsten Hawksey died less than a month after her diagnosis
Kirsten Hawksey died less than a month after her diagnosis (Facebook)

A young mother spoke of how "lucky" she felt in a final Facebook post, weeks before she died on Christmas Day.

Kirsten Hawksey, 23, was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia on 27 November.

Taking to Facebook a few days later, the dental nurse from Merseyside, who had a 15-month-old daughter, wrote: "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.

"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."

Hawksey had initially gone to her doctor with unexplained bruising on her legs, the Liverpool Echo reported. But after blood tests revealed she had Leukaemia, she immediately started a course of chemotherapy.

But on Christmas Eve, she contracted a lung infection and on Christmas Day, after suffering a bleed on the brain, her family decided to switch off her life support.

Her father Neil, 39, said he wanted to pay tribute to his "strong willed" daughter as part of her wish to raise awareness of the condition.

“It was weird hearing the doctors say how ill she actually was, because she was sitting there laughing and joking with me," he told the Liverpool Echo.

NHS England action to save lives by catching more cancers early

“Kirsten was not the type of girl who would moan or complain. But sadly things were taken out of her control.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in