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.
