Tragic mum's farewell party

Tragic mum's farewell party
By BRIAN LEWIS

A MUM left fighting agonising illness and the loss of both her legs vowed last night to have "one last waltz" at a party to mark her DEATH.

Tragic Sandra Ewing, 48 - who was hit with the MRSA superbug before her kidneys failed - plans to escape her daily torment by taking her own life later this month.

She has ordered doctors to stop her life-saving dialysis treatment, prepared her shattered family and even planned her own funeral.

But Sandra - who blames hospital blunders for her ordeal - is determined to go out in style by throwing a huge farewell bash just ten days before she slips away for the final time.

Speaking exclusively to The Scottish Sun, she said: "I'm living in sheer hell, I can't bear the torture any more."

Sandra, of Glenrothes, Fife, told how she has been locked in a waking nightmare since her legs were amputated two years ago.

In January, she kicked out her partner of six years John Wright, 32 - telling him she didn't want to wreck his future.

Shocking

Now the mum-of-two will spend a final day with her two grandsons next Wednesday as she plots to end the anguish once and for all.

Two days later, she will throw a party, where she hopes to savour a last dance with an old boyfriend.

Last night Sandra said: "I've made my decision to come off dialysis - my mind is made up.

"My doctor is very understanding. She has told me I won't be able to get a kidney transplant and knows I'm not coping well.

"Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I get up at 6am, my ambulance takes me away for dialysis at 7.30am, I get off the machine at 12.30pm and I'm dropped off again at 1pm.

"I shut my door and that's me for the rest of the day. I have no other life."

Sandra - who is mum to Gary, 24, and Leanne, 26 - has even been assessed by a psychiatrist, but refuses to back down.

On June 29, she will have her last dialysis, before being admitted to hospital where she will slowly fall into a fatal coma.

Sandra said: "I'm very scared and nearer the time I'll probably panic, but I am prepared mentally.

"I think the hardest thing will be seeing my grandchildren for the last time."

Gary said: "I think it's shocking and a total waste, but her mind is made up."

Sandra is equally determined to enjoy one last celebration with family and friends - aided by chum Heather O'Neill, 47.

She said: "I'm getting a full makeover and I'm going to put my legs on and walk in there with my head held high looking like a million bucks."

Sandra added: "I spoke to one of my ex-boyfriends and told him if he saved the last dance for me he might get to come home with me. He said 'It's a deal'. I can't wait, it's going to be great."

We told last year how Sandra broke both ankles after falling off her bed a week before she was due to fly out on a dream holiday to Jamaica with her ex John.

She said a doctor at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, misdiagnosed the fractures as torn ligaments and released her next day.

By the time the couple arrived on the island, she was in agony.

The breaks were spotted straight away when she was X-rayed by docs in Kingston, where she spent two weeks hooked up to a drip.

On their return to Scotland, Sandra suffered a fit and was rushed to the Victoria. She slipped into a coma - and was transferred to the Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline.

When she woke eight days later, her left leg had been amputated because of septicaemia and she was told she'd lose her right leg too.

Bitterness
Sandra also learned she'd need dialysis for the rest of her life after her kidneys shut down while she was on life support.

But she also discovered she had MRSA - and believes she caught it on a previous trip to hospital to have a foot wound treated.

Sandra said: "When they put the tubes in from the dialysis machine I had a really bad reaction to it and that's when they found out about the MRSA.

"I know when it happened. One night (in the QM hospital) when I tried to get up to go to the toilet my dressing fell off my wound. A nurse found it on the floor, but just put it back on."

She added: "I've always felt a lot of anger and bitterness about it."

The anguish which followed became too much to bear - and she broke up with John.

She said: "My life was ruined when I lost my legs, I didn't feel like a woman any more. It's not any sort of way to live and it was ruining John's life as well."

Now contemplating her own death with steely determination, she is even planning her funeral. She said: "I want to be taken to the crematorium in a white wedding car. It'll cheer everyone up.

"Then I've asked for 99 pink balloons to be released along with one red one with my name on it and a white dove."

Last night Sandra's pal Heather, of Star, Fife, said: "Sandra's incredible, she refuses to have helpers in her home and wants to raise money for the dialysis ward on the night of the party. I hope we can give her the send-off she deserves."

An NHS Fife spokesman said it could not comment on individual cases, adding: "A response to the patient's claims has already been sent to the individual."

brianlewis@the-sun.co.uk

http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2477424/Tragic-mums-farewell-party.html

Good luck to a brave lady.

"I know when it happened. One night (in the QM hospital) when I tried to get up to go to the toilet my dressing fell off my wound. A nurse found it on the floor, but just put it back on."

I find that to be odd to happen in this day and age. That's just gross that a nurse would do that.

Yes, Good Luck and God Bless her for her courage. Still, maybe she could stick around to sue the nurse and make HER life a living hell.

I don't think it's courage I think it's awful. What a terrible way to go! I'd do it some other way. Find a gun woman!
And anyway, how did a 48 year old get a 32 year old boyfriend. There's hope for me yet!
Seriously though, there are huge oddities in this story she fell off her bed and broke both her ankles? Huh? I would keep an eye on this one with a grain of salt I think. (I know what I mean by that even though it makes no sense).

Hanify, maybe it was a bunk bed and she was on top and missed her landing mark like a bad olympian gymnist

I could see it if she has osteoporosis, but there isn't nough information either by the writer or by her.

Yes, I think there may well be a wee bit more to her health deteriorating than the article says.

My sister-in-law fell out of bed and broke an ankle a few years ago. Breaking both seems odd, but then I thought it was odd that my SIL fell out of bed at all, never mind the broken bone. She was either in her late 40's or early 50's.

Yeah, I get breaking one - just not two.

I'm still mistified as to one falling out of bed to break a bone. I can see rolling off the bed and breaking the bone you landed on, but 2?

??/

We need a digital re animation of this event.

Maybe it was the top bunk?

Maybe it was some really weird sex game?

Quote from: Hanify on June 15, 2009, 06:00:19 PM

Maybe it was some really weird sex game?

I like your thinking though

There is some mighty strange humor on this site.

A good friend of mine stepped back off your hearth, forgetting she was ON the hearth and broke both her ankles. Granted, it was not falling out of bed, but maybe it was one of those high antique beds that needed a little step stool to get into. I have one of those beds and I would NOT want to fall out of it! I can actually see "falling" out and trying to land right side up on both feet.

But I agree, better to go FAST instead of dying by inches.

Aleta

Published: Today

Party Till You Drop

By BRIAN LEWIS

DEATH-WISH mum Sandra Ewing parties the night away at a farewell bash — before she ends her life.

Tragic Sandra, who lost both legs and has an agonising illness, will have a final dialysis session this week before she refuses the treatment keeping her alive.

But the brave gran enjoyed one last blow-out at a social club to celebrate with scores of guests. Sandra, 48, of Glenrothes in Fife, said last night: “It was fantastic to see friends I haven’t seen for years.”

She claims hospital blunders ruined her life when she was hit with MRSA before her kidneys failed.

Fun-loving Sandra, who has prosthetic legs, admitted she was literally LEGLESS for Friday’s bash. She said: “I had to get helped into a taxi. I couldn’t get my legs on — I was a bit shaky.”

Cheeky Sandra, who sang songs with daughter Lee-Ann, 25, and son Gary, 24, fancied one last romp with teen sweetheart Alan Green.

But she said: “There was no way that was happening. I had too much to drink. He said he'll always love me.”

Earlier this month The Scottish Sun revealed Sandra had planned her own funeral.

She will accept her final dialysis on Thursday. She said: “I’m nervous but I’m mentally prepared.”

Sandra broke her ankles in a fall from her bed in 2007 before a holiday to Jamaica.

She claimed a Fife doctor misdiagnosed the fractures as torn ligaments. The breaks were spotted in Jamaica where she spent two weeks on a drip. Back home she fell into a coma and lost her legs to septicaemia.

Her kidneys shut down and she found she had MRSA.

brianlewis@the-sun.co.uk

http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2493413/Sandra-Ewing-holds-a-party-before-her-impending-death.html

I don't know, I think she should start the lawsuit for her kids against the hospital and stopping dialysis seems a peaceful solution as opposed to finding a gun.

I actually think it's a load of rubbish - typical Sun rubbish. They just make up stuff anyway. I'm not sure if Scotland has the same non sue laws as we do, so that's maybe not an option. I don't believe that a nurse in any hospital in the British Isles would pick a bandage up off the floor and stick it back on. And, judging by the way I felt before I started dialysis I don't think there's anything peaceful about stopping dialysis. I think there are nicer ways to go if you wanna go.