FAMILY RAISING MONEY FOR GIRL’S DREAM HOLIDAY
ROSIE Sidwell had been battling type 1 diabetes for almost 20 years when she died on August 30, aged just 30 years old.
Her “amazing” daughter Lottie, 10, gave her all to look after her mum in her final months, helping her to get dressed, make her lunch, clean and tidy the house and give her all the love and care she could at their home in Feltham.
She even secured help from the Brentford FC Young Carers Project to best take care of Rosie.
Now, Lottie’s auntie and nanny are raising money to take her on her dream holiday – to Disney World in Florida – and generous friends, family and strangers have already donated more than £5,000.
Rosie’s sister Daisy, 28, who also lives in Feltham, said: “Her and my sister were the best of friends.
“I lived with them, but because I work for the London Ambulance Service I had to move out at the start of the pandemic as my sister was a shielded patient.
“That’s when Lottie took on quite a lot, bless her. But she’s been so resilient, and she’s heartbroken, but she’s just been amazing throughout all of it.”
She added: “Little Lottie gave Rosie something nobody else could give her, and that was determination.”
Rosie’s family say she was a “natural mum”, and was “put on this planet to take care of others”.
When Lottie was around six years old, Rosie began to experience symptoms of gastroparesis – damage to her digestive system due to diabetic nerve damage.
She “couldn’t eat a single crumb without vomiting”, experienced chronic abdominal pain, severe vomiting and diarrhoea of undigested food, excessive sweating, foul-smelling burps and weight loss, and Daisy said that “for years” doctors thought that she had coeliac disease.
During the pandemic, Rosie was admitted to West Middlesex Hospital intensive care unit with pneumonia, unrelated to Covid-19.
She had to have a temporary tracheostomy – an opening in the windpipe at the front of the neck – so she could be ventilated while she was awake.
While she was in hospital, Rosie also suffered a cardiac arrest, fluid around the heart and recurring pneumonia. Her body just could not fight it.
Daisy said: “Because of the gastroparesis which was secondary to the diabetes, caused by nerve damage, she was malnourished and she just couldn’t fight the pneumonia – her weight was against her, she was so underweight.
“A lot of people out there with type 1 are living with gastroparesis and have no idea.”
Rosie battled on, knowing she had Lottie to fight for, and there was even a stage where she was able to sit at the edge of the bed with help from physiotherapists.
She was later moved to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital due to ICU bed shortages and coronavirus, and overall Rosie was in intensive care for six months.
She had more than 50 kinds of antibiotics, but her body became resistant to most of the treatments.
By Monday August 30, the hospital had run out of options and her family knew they had to say goodbye. Rosie died that evening.
Daisy said that they felt it important to set up a fundraiser for Lottie and that because of the “amazing things she’s done for her mum, she deserves it”.
She said: “If Rosie hadn’t been so poorly, she would have already taken her to Disney World. It was just her dream.
“Me and Rosie went as kids, with our family, and we knew how amazing it was. I know Rosie would have always wanted [to take her] – it is just that dream holiday, isn’t it, for a child.
“The GoFundMe was suggested by other people initially, but at first we thought, no, because we didn’t want people to throw money at us in a bad situation.
“But it is giving Lottie, and us, some comfort, knowing how everyone loved Rosie so much.”
Rosie’s family have decided that flowers are going to be welcomed from immediate family only, but request that those who would wish to buy flowers can instead donate to the fundraiser. Any money left over from Lottie’s dream trip will be set aside for her future.
They wrote on GoFundMe: “Rosie loved taking Lottie on holiday to Butlins, Haven, Gran Canaria, Tenerife etc, however [she] always dreamed of taking Lottie to Disney World.
“If you wish you leave a donation, it would make Lottie and Rosie’s dreams come true as a contribution towards Lottie’s dream holiday.”
Daisy added: “Our whole doorstep and driveway is covered in flowers at the moment and the funeral’s not even happened yet.
“It’s amazing. It shows how much she was loved. It’s not going to bring her back, but it’s certainly going to bring some positivity to the future and something to look forward to for Lottie.”
Rosie’s family “can’t believe” how generous people have already been. The GoFundMe’s target of £5,000 has already been smashed by £400 at the time of writing, and Daisy said she has been “crying at how amazing it’s been, it’s incredible”.
Daisy added that they would also love to thank the staff at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London Ambulance Service, and West Middlesex Hospital for their hard work and care for Rosie, right until the end.
FAMILY RAISING MONEY TO TAKE GIRL, WHOSE MUM DIED, ON DREAM HOLIDAY