Woman, 28, dies after failing to take diabetes injections – and turn up for check ups
A 28-YEAR-OLD woman has died from a rare medical condition after failing to take insulin to treat her diabetes.
Shayni Kirk, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, complained of severe chest pains and was found dead two days later next to her pet dogs.
The healthcare assistant was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 19, but since then had missed numerous doctors appointments and insulin shots.
Shayni died last January from Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), which is a potentially fatal but very rare complication of diabetes that happens to around four per cent of type 1 patients.
Her GP, Dr Elizabeth Eales, told the court that Shayni "was poorly complying with her treatment for her diabetes and she had poor diabetes control.
"She frequently did not take insulin and had multiple 'did not attends' for her diabetes appointments.
"Since 2009 she has had numerous A&E admission for her diabetes and at times she had taken her own discharge during these admissions."
Shayni, Dr Eales said, had a previous history of anxiety and mild depression, and that the last time she had seen her, her mum had said that her diet had been poor.
"(Shayni) asked me to prescribe her sleeping tablets as she thought her sleep was poor. She looked extremely thin and I was concerned regarding her weight loss and I did not prescribe her sleeping tablets.
"She had a high abnormal glucose result so we tried contacting her by telephone to arrange a follow-up but had no response.
Over the course of a year, Shayni either didn't turn up to the diabetic clinic for a review, or didn't agree to having her blood glucose taken.
Her doctor told the court that in August, she was admitted to hospital with diabetic problems but self-discharged and did not attend a follow-up review.
"In October she had told a nurse that she felt awful for missing the appointments and would attend in the future to prevent further complications.
"She failed to attend three diabetes clinic appointments in November and December and my last face-to-face consultation with her was in November of last year."
Shayni's mum, Rosemary Slade, believes that doctors and the hospital could have done more to keep her daughter alive.
She says that Shayni's dad Alan had come to stay with on the Friday and had called an ambulance because she was complaining of chest pains - which paramedics put down to a chest infection.
Alan stayed with Shayni until the Saturday when they'd all agreed to meet up that night.
"On that day I rang her six or seven times and I text her but had no answer.
"This was not unusual because she would often shut herself away when she felt ill," Rosemary said.
WHAT IS DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS?
DKA happens if the body starts to run out of insulin - causing a build-up of harmful substances called ketones in the body.
Symptoms of the condition include:
- needing to pee more than usual
- feeling very thirsty
- being sick
- tummy pain
- breath that smells fruity (like pear drop sweets or nail varnish)
- deep or fast breathing
- feeling very tired or sleepy
- confusion
- passing out
It's an incredibly serious condition so if you are diabetic and have any of these symptoms, you need to get to a hospital immediately.
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"When I let myself into the flat with my key on the Sunday, everything seemed fine. There was no sign of her so I went into to the bedroom and that's where I found her.
"The dogs were next to Shayni, I could not get them to leave her.
"I believe the GPs and hospital could have done more for Shayni. They just used to use the diabetes to shun her heart problems.
"They could have done more tests and done things differently but we will never now know."
A post-mortum revealed that Shayni had died from diabetic ketoacidosis and myocardial fibrosis.
Coronor Heath Westerman said: "The myocardial fibrosis brought on a cardiac arrest and resulted in a stroke. Her heart in the end was badly damaged.
"I can tell that she meant a great deal to many people and she was a bright girl who suffered from many different things over the years."
Shayni is just the latest diabetes sufferer to die from not taking their medication.
Yesterday we revealed that 20-year-old Natasha Horne died after falling into a diabetic coma from refusing to take insulin injections.
Natasha lost around half of her body weight in three months from not taking the lifesaving medication - something she claimed to be proud of.
According to it's estimated that around 40 per cent of women between 15-30 with type 1 diabetes give themselves less insulin in order to lose weight - something called "Diabulimia".
In fact, new research suggested that 60 per cent of Type 1 women will experience a ‘clinically significant’ eating disorder by the time they are 25.
MORE ON DIABETES
In a statement, Shayni's family said: "We had been worried about this type of thing happening in the past but unfortunately she kept getting dragged down by illnesses and depression.
"She loved her dogs Misty and Boyo. She had a parrot called George as well. She was an animal lover, she turned to animals for company. She was with them until the end.
"She was generous and kind, a lot of people came to her for advice despite her having her own problems. She was loved by so many people and this was shown by the amount of people who came to her funeral."
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