A WOMAN who lost her husband just 18 months after marrying when he suddenly slipped into a diabetic coma has vowed to promote awareness of the dangers of blood sugar levels dropping too low.
Mags Smith from Tallow, Co Waterford, found her life forever changed on January 15th when she returned home to find her 37-year-old husband Frank dead in bed. Frank, who owned a blinds shop in Fermoy, Co Cork, had woken up that morning feeling a little bit under the weather and had decided to take the day off.
Mags went to work and phoned her husband at lunchtime to check if he was feeling any better. He seemed in good form and his wife told him she would see him after work. A Type 1 insulin-dependent diabetic, Frank had been diagnosed with diabetes 10 years previously and was knowledgeable about his condition.
She returned home at 7.45pm and found Frank dead in his bed. It was established his blood sugar level plummeted over the course of the afternoon and he had slipped in to a hypoglycaemic diabetic coma. Such a coma occurs when there is a loss of consciousness that results from abnormally low blood glucose levels. If not treated immediately, this condition can result in brain damage and be potentially fatal.
Mags says healthcare professionals put an emphasis on keeping blood sugar levels from rising too high but she feels that the dangers of them falling too low are not as well-advertised.
“I just did not realise that you could die that quickly. I came home at quarter-to-eight to find Frank dead. I spoke to him at lunchtime and he had been on Facebook and seemed okay. He had taken some readings and one was so low that you wouldn’t be able to function. Unfortunately, we didn’t have anything like Lucozade upstairs. If we had he might have lived.”
Mags says she wants to get the message out to relatives of people with Type 1 diabetes to check in with them regularly if they take a day off work complaining of feeling unwell or tired. She also advocates the use of a personal alarm for Type 1 diabetes patients.
She says her husband had a “very good understanding” of his condition”. She insists diabetics underestimate the complications when blood sugars drop too low.
“Frank and I were never told that a diabetic could die that quickly from blood sugar complications. How many diabetics could die like this? I really want to increase awareness as Frank’s death could have been prevented.”
In the aftermath of her loss, Mags has started fundraising for the Cork branch of the Diabetes Federation of Ireland.
She knew Frank for close to 20 years and the pair had planned to start a family, having married just 18 months earlier in Lismore, Co Waterford.
Mag’s fundraiser for the Diabetes Federation is taking place next Friday in Youghal, Co Cork. The event will start with a coffee morning and will be followed by a free diabetes screening at Brooke’s Supervalu between 2pm and 4pm.
That evening, there will be a fundraising fancy dress 1980s disco at Youghal GAA club. Anyone wishing to donate to the Diabetes Federation can do so online at www.diabetesshop.ie/iopen24/quick_donation.php