A West Lothian man is raising money to pay for the funeral of a well known West Lothian woman.
Louise Duncan, aged 41, from Craigshill in Livingston passed away yesterday morning (July 28) and sadly had little family left.
Her father recently died and her only surviving sister has a family to support and just cannot afford to meet the costs.
One of Louise’s friends from the community, Scott Alexander, decided to step up and help raise the funds to give Louise a proper send off after the sudden death this week.
Louse had taken ill over the weekend before being admitted to hospital on Monday, but her health rapidly declined.
Scott raced to hospital yesterday morning to wish his old friend farewell but she slipped away, just as he arrived.
He explained: “She had underlying health conditions and she went into hospital on Monday with suspected pneumonia in the lung, and then she ended up with a blood clot and all her organs failed and then passed away yesterday morning at quarter past ten.
“She was a really close friend, but had suffered from health issues recently, and in the past six months she was diagnosed with a few conditions and her body just gave up at the weekend.”
Louise was well known in the Tower Bar in the area and the pub is going to organise a whip round to put toward Scott’s appeal.
The local chip shop has also pledged a donation to give the popular woman a befitting funeral.
Scott continued: “I am going up to the chippy Marmaris in Craigshill tonight and they have promised a substantial donation.
“They knew Louise, she was up there getting takeaways all the time. Everybody in the area knew her so when I went into the pub yesterday The Tower was devastated.
"Hopefully the community will pull together and raise some money.
“Her sister just doesn’t have the funds so there is nothing she can do. I know she has applied to the council for help but they won’t cover everything."
Hearts F.C have also agreed to an announcement for Louise’s passing over the tannoy ahead of tomorrow’s season opener against Celtic.
Louise was a big Hearts fan and had followed the Jambos all of her life so Scott got in touch with the club and asked them remember his friend.
To donate and help Louise's family and loved ones please click here.
* Scott collected £300 from staff at Marmaris in Craigshill after the story was originally published to go toward the funeral service.
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