Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Let me begin by telling you the story of my amazing & wonderful girlfriend LESLEY BOOTH. Lesley had suffered from Crohn’s Disease for just over 10 years, and in that time she never ever complained about the pain & suffering this disease had inflicted on her. Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease and is a long-term condition that causes inflammation of the lining of the digestive system. Inflammation can affect any part of the digestive system, from the mouth to the back passage, but most commonly occurs in the last section of the small intestine or the large intestine. Over the years Lesley had numerous visits/stays in hospital involving her Crohn’s. Then around July 2013, Danielle (Lesley’s eldest daughter) found her in the bathroom in excoriating pain around her Bowel. She was immediately rushed down to hospital, where she was told it was her Crohn’s and sent home with painkillers. Lesley knew this weren’t her Crohn’s and pleaded for someone to believe her. Two days later Lesley collapsed and had to be rushed in to hospital. When eventually a scan was carried out, it revealed Toxins’ leaking into her body. Emergency & basically live saving surgery took place. Then after a spell in Intensive Care Lesley returned to the Ward for a couple of weeks & then was sent home. But from leaving that hospital, Lesley never ever felt right. The explanation given was a Perforated Bowel (Now one of the effects of Crohn’s, is that scar tissue in fact thins the walls of the bowel), but Lesley was told something different & even to this day her family still don’t know the exact cause.

Then not long after, Lesley was again rushed in to hospital, again in excoriating pain around her Bowel area, she described as contraction pain, but a million times worse, again sent home, no real explanation, she was just told it was a Crohn’s flare up, even though the symptoms were totally opposite.

Again a couple of month later, same old story, back in hospital, again sent home. Then she started new Crohn’s treatment, but the pain was still there.

Then the dreaded phone call from her youngest daughter Lauren “Mam can’t pick you up from the Airport ......... she’s collapsed ......... they’re preparing her for theatre “

By the time I got there she was just coming round from the operation & we had to wait until she was transfer to Intensive Care and was settled before we could see her. We went in to see her, and typical Lesley was still trying to have a joke & a laugh. Next day believe it or not Lesley was out on a Ward, laughing & joking with everyone. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Her body swelled up with fluid, she’d put 4st on, and there’s Lesley got everyone in the hospital up to feel her “  Kim Kardashian hips n booty” , the girl just ceases to amazing me.

A week or so later the devastating news from the Surgeon came. “Lesley’s Bowel, basically exploded” said the Surgeon. And because Lesley had already had major surgery on her Bowel, he’d investigated further during the operation. He’d found a Tumor, he removed it along with 12” of intestine. This turned out to be Lymphoma, a Cancer of the blood cells. But even this couldn’t even get her down !!

The cause of this ......... her Crohn’s medication , but Lesley was just so relieved that someone had found the problem, took the pain away & finally all the experts had no choice but to believe that she was so right about the pain & suffering she’d entailed for the past 14 months.

Lesley now felt on top of the world, the best she’d felt in years, but she wasn’t out of the woods yet. The Hematologist told her that up to now everything had came back clear, but yeah she needed three courses of Chemo !!

Lesley’s attitude ....... “Well I’m off to Brazil, it’s a once in a lifetime trip, I’ll deal with it ...... when I get back”. She even joked about the Chemo & about her losing her hair. Now Lesley’s hair was beautiful & she took great pride in it, and I’m sure those who knew her would agree, it was perfect and here she is having a laugh and a joke about it. Well she made it to Brazil, for the World Cup. Where I can honestly say we had the best time of our lives. And so we returned on a Tuesday night in July, next day I had to travel back to work, Lesley dropped me off for the Airport, we told each other how much we loved each other, as we did 100’s of times a day, gave her a big kiss & told her I was missing her already ............... that was the last time I seen my babe alive.

By the time I’d flew to Aberdeen, she had been rushed in to hospital, she’d collapsed & was having difficulty breathing. Another heart-wrenching phone call, another nightmare journey home. I had constant updates from Danielle & her brother Mick through the night & into the early hours of Thursday morning. There’s fluid around her heart & her blood pressure has dropped below 50. They’re going to drain the fluid off ........ they can’t , it’s to thick ........ it’s blood. They’re going to transfer her to the Freeman, a heart specialist is waiting, just need to get her settled.

“She’s settled, they’re gonna transfer her” Mick said ............ Danielle told me she’s joking on with the Ambulance Crew, when asked if she felt okay ...”I feel champion ....... could just drink half a lager” she told them.

That ambulance never left the hospital ..................................... and Lesley sadly slipped away from us all  ............... xx

To this day we can’t pin-point exactly what has caused her death, yeah the Crohn’s medication lowers your immune system ? No one can tell us if it had anything to do with the Lymphoma ? She’s gone and I know it should not take for this to happen, for us to get involved with this Charity , but we are and even if we can help raise a little money for research & maybe , just maybe we can find out more about the implications of these drugs, and the disease or even find a cure for Crohn’s itself.................. but more importantly what if we could save someone’s LIFE ........ just be raising a little cash.

Thank you for reading our story & honestly I do appreciated any help no matter how small, even if it gets you just to show your support & awareness towards Crohn’s & Colitis would be a step in the right direction .

Thanks again

Darren