A HEARTBROKEN woman has revealed a snap of the last kiss she shared with her wife – who died in her arms after becoming too weak to eat or drink.
NHS worker Laura Oddy, 34, has opened up about watching her “hero” wife die from malnutrition and intestinal failure after suffering multiple-organ failure.
Laura met Michelle, 47, on Facebook 12 years ago and moved in with her and her daughter Keira, 19, just six months after meeting.
Michelle had suffered with Crohn’s disease since she was 14-years-old which was managed fine until 2014 when she woke up with a hole in her stomach after a fistula had torn through it.
This led to multiple organ failure and her needing a rare five-organ transplant to save her life, which included a new large and small bowel, intestines, pancreas and liver.
After years of waiting for the transplant and being kept alive by a Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN), she found herself too weak to continue treatment and died of malnutrition and intestinal failure in July 2023.
Laura had been married to Michelle for five years, and was able to have one last conversation with her before she died.
Laura, said: “The two photos bring back memories of the worst days of my life.
“But I’ll treasure them because they were our last photos together and it was our last kiss.
“Her clothes are still hung up, her toothbrush is still in the bathroom.
“I still say goodnight to her every single evening as I’m dropping off to sleep.
“I’ve only made it this far without her because she would have wanted me to.
“I know I’m doing her proud and that’s what keeping me going.
“I miss her so much.”
“Her clothes are still hung up and her toothbrush is still in the bathroom, I miss her so much.”
Laura Oddy
When Laura and Michelle were told that she would not make it to past 2023, they sat down and had their last conversation together where Michelle made Laura promise she would not “do anything stupid”.
Laura said: “She knew how wrapped up I had been looking after her for so many years so she was worried about how I would cope when she died.
“She told me ‘don’t you dare do anything stupid, don’t even let it cross your mind, if not for you do it for Keira’.
“She told I was going to be Keira’s mum from now on because she would not be here for much longer.
“She still managed to make me laugh because she told me to make sure I eat properly, and she told all of our family to tell me to do the same.
“Even though she couldn’t eat herself, and was never much of a chef herself.
“She told me not to dwell on her death and move on as quick as I could, she just wanted me to make her proud.”
Michelle died in Laura’s arms in July 2023, and since then Laura has made it her mission to rebuild her life in Michelle’s honour.
Laura said: “She’s with me every day and everything I do is for her – knowing I’m making her proud is what keeps me going.”
Back in 2014, Derby-based Michelle woke up to find that her 10-year-old C-section scar had exploded and was leaking blood and faeces because a fistula had ripped through her stomach and left her with multiple organ failure.
She then started to lose a dramatic amount of weight – eventually weighting just four stone – and her organs had “packed up” leaving her with only days to live.
But the brave fighter managed to push on and went through countless gruelling stays at hospital while nurses administered a liquid feed directly to her major arteries six times a week.
Years of treatment left her exhausted, we knew having more would kill her.
Laura Oddy
Michelle battled on for three more years before she received the terrifying news that she would need a rare multi-organ transplant – or she would die.
The lifesaving operation would take 20 hours to complete, giving Michelle a 35 per cent chance of dying on the operating table – but if successful she could to live her life again.
Sadly, in 2023, it was decided that she would not survive the operation and died in Laura’s arms as a result of malnutrition and intestinal failure – because her body could no longer process food or liquids.
Every TPN line she got would kill off another vein, at this point she only had a couple of them left.
Laura Oddy
Laura, said: “The transplant never happened because about four months prior they told her she was too ill to have it.
“Ironic really as that was the reason she needed it.
“At the same meeting she was told she’d probably only have about a year left.
“She couldn’t have any more of the total parenteral nutrition (TPN) as her veins had all packed up, so it was just a waiting game really.
“We decided to bring her home to have a chance at recovering with family and spend Christmas with us.
“We had palliative care nurses visiting the house three times a day to give her medication and end of life care.
“She was in a wheelchair because she was too weak. She just went downhill fast.”
Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which causes a person’s digestive tract to swell up and become irritated.
People who suffer the condition will commonly have symptoms like abdominal pain, weight loss, rectal bleeding and diarrhoea.
The NHS’s website says a person should see their GP if they have blood in their faeces, diarrhoea for more than 7 days, frequent stomach aches or cramps or have lost weight for no reason.
There is no cure for the condition but there are some medicines and procedures that people who suffer from the condition can pursue.
Steroid tablets can reduce inflammation in the digestive system, while other medicines can stop the inflammation coming back and surgery performed can remove the small part of the digestive system entirely.
In July 2023 Michelle went to hospital again for what they believed would be a two-day stay while her pain relief was tweaked – but she never went home.
Laura, said: “When we got there her consultant pulled me to one side and told me she only had days left.
“A tragedy really after so many years of fighting, then waiting for this massive transplant that was going to save her.”
Before passing way, Michelle told Laura to make the most of her life while learning how to live without her.
Laura, said: “When we knew she was coming to her end, all she wanted was all of us to live our lives – she was happy knowing that Keira would be looked after.”
In honour of Michelle, and to give back to the NHS after they tirelessly tried to keep Michelle alive over the course of five years, she now works for the health system’s 111 service.
Laura, said: “I could’ve crashed and burned so many times losing her – but the drive behind this job is keeping me going.
“I promised her I would get this job and do this work in her honour and she couldn’t stop smiling when I told her that.
“We all miss her every day, but we know how proud she would be knowing her daughter is doing really well at university and I’ve found a career that keeps me going.”
