A groom has been left heartbroken after his new wife died suddenly during their honeymoon in Fiji.
24-year-old Kelly Clarke, a post-operative nurse at The Children’s
Hospital at Westmead, fell ill on Wednesday but dismissed it as a
stomach bug and went to bed to sleep it off. However, she got worse the
following day and was rushed to the hospital where she was initially
diagnosed with typhoid fever. In no time, Kelly went into septic shock
and died in hospital on Friday night while waiting for a medevac team to
arrive.
Her heartbroken husband Chase says he was able to speak to her one
last time before she died and she told him she was afraid she might die,
but he reassured her that everything was going to be fine. He was at
their hotel collecting their belongings when doctors placed her in an
induced coma.
"I spoke to her and she told me she was scared she was going to die,"
Chase told Nine News . "I just told her I love her, 'we're going to get
out of here, everything's going to be ok'. She'd gone into septic
shock, she was panting heavily, she could barely speak to me."
Chase said the family have been told Kelly died from severe bilateral
pneumonia. Experts suspect Kelly, who had contracted the chronic immune
disorder lupus earlier this year, would most likely have been treated
with steroids which damages the immune system further and increases the
risk of infection.
Infectious diseases expert at Sydney University Robert Booy said:
"Lupus can weaken the lungs directly, so they may have already been
damaged, increasing the risk of pneumonia and infections."
Chase and Kelly, from New South Wales, Australia, married in April
this year and were planning their honeymoon for later in the year.
Chase told The Daily Telegraph : "I don’t know what to say, I’m
completely and utterly devastated, it’s come as a complete shock. When
we’re stronger we will reveal the complete causes of death but severe
bilateral pneumonia is the main one. Kelly is a wonderful kind soul, the
last thing you expect on your honeymoon is to lose your wife, she had
her whole life ahead of her. We just want her home, it’s a waiting game
for us now, we’re just shocked and devastated and can’t explain how we
feel. I just feel numb."
Kelly's parents have since flown to Fiji, but the family needs to
raise up £35,000 to bring the body back to Australia.Kelly’s brother,
Murray Shaw, took to Facebook to share an emotional tribute to his late
sister.
He wrote: "You beautiful girl and amazing sister you will be deeply missed."
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