A businesswoman who is believed to have founded the first independent nail salon in Scotland died a year after catching covid during treatment for a terminal brain tumour.
In her memory, Karen Kaye's loved ones have organised a charity concert at Glasgow's Room 2, on January 29.
Granny Karen, 64, was diagnosed with the terminal illness back in 2020 and given between a year and 18 months to live. But on Christmas Day that year, she was rushed to hospital and put on a ventilator for four weeks after catching covid.
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She founded Nailzone, which had two branches in the city centre, but was forced to walk away from the business following her health battle.
The coronavirus took her off the clinical trial she was on and she was also taken off her chemo tablets which husband David says 'shortened her life span'. She sadly died in September, 2021.
David, 65, from Giffnock, spoke with Glasgow Live about the devastating diagnosis and paid tribute to the "lively, outgoing, and extremely friendly" mum-of-two.
He said: "What happens is you run on adrenaline because you don’t think about ultimately what’s going to happen, you think about fighting to make sure you look after her and more importantly you think maybe there’s ways around it and things we can do to try and prolong it.
"It’s devastating but you must stay as strong as you can and that’s what we all managed to do. We all rallied together for her sake and our own.
"We pulled together as a family to try and deal with the health challenges. Unfortunately, she caught covid very badly. They miraculously saved her life which was incredible and brought her back to us for a period of time. Covid probably accelerated her demise."
David, who was married to Karen for 40 years, added: "Karen was very lively, outgoing, and extremely friendly. Nailzone was the first independent nail salon business in Scotland and lasted for 20 years until she was diagnosed and had no choice but to walk away from the business.
"Her customers loved her and she ran a really good business. She was also a fabulous mother."
The concert at Karen's Music Lounge is being held to raise money for two charities that help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, MCR Pathways and The Sound Lab.
David hopes to organise more events like this in memory of his late wife.
He said: "I wanted to have a bit of a legacy in her memory and that’s by helping young people, the two charities I’m involved with and giving back in a different way.
"I want something that’s going to be sustainable and continue. It’s an event that will see young people performing music for young people. I’ve got a TV company to film them, put it onto YouTube and give them a kickstart into their career.
"The idea was to get as many kids as we can into this club. I am excited but nervous also. I want the room to be full of young people. I want this to be done once a quarter and to be called Karen’s Music Lounge."
Glasgow-born singer-songwriter Kitti is one of the talented youngsters performing at the event. She recently won Best Vocalist at the Scottish Jazz Awards 2022 and Best Breakthrough Artist at the Scottish Music Awards.
Josh Maguire, Rebecca Vasmant, and Paige are also performing and Heather Suttie, the former XFM DJ, will be hosting the event.
Karen’s Music Lounge is open to all ages and young people are encouraged to come, and there will be a charity raffle on the night.
Tickets are priced at £3 and the concert will be on from 7pm to 10pm on Sunday, January 29 at Room 2. Buy yours here.
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