A grieving daughter has told of how she couldn't see her dying mum during the last nine weeks of her life because of lockdown rules.
Lesley Irving, 41, is still struggling to coming to terms with the cruel loss of her mum Pauline, 72, after her rapid decline and death from pancreatic cancer in June.
The pain of losing her mum was exacerbated by strict lockdown rules which not only meant her treatment was cancelled but it stopped the doting daughter from visiting her in the hospice where she was cared for.
The lockdown even dictated Pauline's funeral, Daily Record reports.
Pauline, from Largs in Ayrshire, had gone to the doctor in February as she had lower back pain.
She was sent for a scan which discovered the savage cancer and within a week she was told it was inoperable and terminal.
Pauline was offered palliative chemotherapy, which can extend life by several months but it was cancelled because of the lockdown.
Lesley from Lenzie, near Glasgow, is now trying to raise awareness of the disease which has a poor survival rate of just 7% after five years.
She said: “She had got incredibly unwell very quickly, so I don’t know if she would have managed chemo. But her only chance of anything was taken away because of coronavirus.”
Lesley had initially travelled to her parents’ home every day to help her 75-year-old dad David care for Pauline.
When she was admitted to Ayrshire Hospice, David was allowed to stay with her along with one other family member.
And Lesley selflessly allowed her brother Calum, 44, to be the visitor because she got to drive her to the hospice and say goodbye.
Recalling the last time she saw her mum, Lesley said: “They wheeled her bed to the window. I was standing in the flower beds, in among the shrubs, and had to say goodbye through the window.”
Lesley has recently turned her attention to contacting some of the country’s most famous landmarks, including Edinburgh Castle, to get them to turn purple – the colour associated with pancreatic cancer.
She added: “When I felt lost, I thought I was best doing something positive and I’m determined to keep going because more needs to be done to create better outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients.”
