Louise to care for others in memory of husband
WIDOW INSPIRED TO BE A NURSE BY THOSE WHO LOOKED AFTER HEART-PATIENT DAVE
A WOMAN who lost her husband to heart transplant complications has started training to become a nurse after she was inspired by the staff who cared for him.
Louise Hughes, 26, was left devastated in May 2018 when Dave, 32, the father of her son George, passed away at Wythenshawe Hospital.
He died just 11 weeks after receiving a new heart.
The mum-ofone from Wigan, started an access course at college just four months after Dave’s death, and started a three-year adult nursing degree last month.
When she qualifies Lou- ise wants to specialise as a transplant nurse and work at Wythenshawe Hospital.
The University of Salford undergraduate said: “Losing Dave was the hardest thing George and I will ever go through.
“Even though it was so painful it was amazing to see the way the nurses cared for him and also dealt with us.
“I developed such a close bond with them.
“At the time I did think to myself that I’d like to be involved in helping people somehow. But I never thought I would be clever or brave enough to become a nurse.”
Louise, Dave and George
Louise added: “I decided that I could make a difference and help people in the same way I was helped.
“As the family member of a transplant patient I’ll know exactly what people are going through.
“I feel like I’m in a perfect position to do the job well.”
Dave, a trainee mechanic, had fought serious health problems since birth because of a congenital heart defect.
In February 2018, he had a transplant operation lasting 12 hours.
He was unconscious for two and a half weeks after the op, and Louise arranged for their wedding to take place in hospital on March 23, once he woke.
But just six weeks after their marriage, Dave’s health took a drastic downturn as it emerged his donated heart was failing.
In order to have another heart transplant he would have had to regain enough strength to undergo a significantly more risky procedure.
But Dave did not want to put his family and friends through any more pain and he broke the news he was going to die.
He passed away in Louise’s arms on May 1, 2018.
Louise and her family now host a memorial fundraising event on February 22 every year, which was the day in 2018 Dave got his heart transplant.
It raises money for the Freeman Heart and Lung Transplant Association (FHLTA), which supported the family during their ordeal. Within the past 18 months Louise and her family have raised £21,000 for the FHLTA.