A beautician died just weeks after she dislocated her knee - and shortly before she was meant to move in with her boyfriend.
Gemma Harries suddenly collapsed on January 16, and went into cardiac arrest and died, aged just 31, after suffering blood clots in her leg and chest.
Even though emergency services scrambled to the scene, including Wales Air Ambulance, she died at her partner, Joseff Edwards’, home in Whitland, Carmarthenshire.
Gemma had lived with her mother, Joyce, and father Hugh, but was due to move in with Joseff, 29, the week she became ill.
In November, Gemma, from Nantgaredig, had been away with friends at a hen do, when she dislocated her knee and received treatment at a hospital in Yeovil.
When she returned home, the swelling didn’t go down even after she received further treatment.
What the couple didn't realise was that she had suffered a Pulmonary Thromboembolism and Deep Vein Thrombosis.
"It wasn't really something we ever thought would happen from a dislocated knee, but it did. I don't think any of us knew what a blood clot looks like or the side effects,” Joseff told WalesOnline.
He continued: “We know what to look out for when it's a heart attack or a stroke. People really would know what to look for but with a blood clot I think it's totally different. Now, looking at it, you'd see the signs if you knew.”
Heartbreakingly, about a week before her sudden death, Gemma had book a surprise holiday in Rome for the couple.
He said: "She booked that probably about a week before she passed away. She thought we were both going to go and I didn't know about it until afterwards.”
Remembering Gemma, he added: "She was lovely. She was the best. You can't really describe her with words because the first time meeting her you'd feel you'd known her for a long, long time. She was just really homely and down to earth. She'd help anyone out."
Joseff and Gemma met in 2020 after lockdown, spending their first date together at Llansteffan beach.
After restrictions came back into force, they spent their second date at a Morrison's car park in Carmarthen. "We parked our cars next door to each other and had a Starbucks and we chatted through a window there," Joseff said.
Towards the end of 2021, they became a couple.
Now, as his first birthday without Gemma approaches, Joseff is fundraising for the Wales Air Ambulance, who raced to save her life.
He said he has been "overwhelmed" by the response and initially wanted to raise £4,000 but has almost raised £10,000.
He continued: "I just think it's something that she would want me to do. With my birthday, she's already planned what was happening. She planned an open house and family get together, she booked a hotel.
"We're carrying on with the plans and I thought [the fundraiser] would be doing something good out of a horrible situation, just for her, and I think she'd be proud of that."
Click here to visit Joseff's fundraiser.
