Scots mum dies after collapsing putting her kids to bed as family pay tribute
Emma McGinty has tragically passed away after she collapsed last Monday while putting her kids to sleep.
‘The family is at peace knowing that Emma will no longer have to suffer from pain’(Image: Edinburgh Live)
A Scots mum-of-seven tragically died after she collapsed while putting her children to bed.
Emma McGinty, 43, was rushed to hospital on Monday November 3 after telling her family something was ‘really wrong’. Her eldest daughter Nicole said she had ‘appeared fine’ and was getting on with cleaning their house in West Lothian earlier that day.
Emma was taken to St John’s Hospital in Livingston, before being moved to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Doctors discovered a clot on her carotid artery that had travelled to her brain, which had caused a stroke.
Emma was rushed to hospital on November 3(Image: Edinburgh Live)
On Tuesday night, the family left the hospital with doctors observing Emma overnight – though received a call to come to the hospital the following morning. Nicole, along with Emma’s other two eldest daughters, were by her side as she passed away.
She leaves behind Nicole, 23, Zoe, 21, Naomi, 20, Andrew, 15, Leon, 4, and twins Kai and Zaria, 3. Emma was also a ‘proud gran’ to young ones Kade and Mason.
The family are hoping to give Emma, who ‘didn’t have a bad bone in her body’, the send off she deserves. Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Nicole said: “I don’t think some of us have fully processed it. It was so sudden.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen, and it’s affected every one massively. Mum never had any savings, she didn’t have life insurance or anything because we just didn’t expect this. We’ve been so stuck on what to do.”
Nicole told us that Emma was going about her day as usual on November 3, when she collapsed. Her son Leon, only four-years-old, had to grab the phone for her so she could call for help.
Nicole recalled: “My grandparents were up at the house. They said she was fine, she was hoovering and cleaning up and was just about to get the rest of the kids to bed.
Emma was a proud mum to seven children (Image: Edinburgh Live)
“My gran and that had just gone back to their house and they were going to come back up, but before they even got down mum was on the phone. She had been shouting to get the phone so Leon, the four-year-old, went and grabbed it for her.
“She had been trying to go up the stairs and collapsed and her vision went. She was so scared, the full right hand side of her body she couldn’t move.
“Mum was grabbing on to grandad saying something was really wrong. She held my hand and asked if I’d come to the hospital with her.
“We were waiting on the ambulance and we didn’t even know what was wrong. She got taken up to St John’s on the Monday.
“They gave her scans but it wasn’t clear enough. She was moved up to the Royal in Edinburgh, where doctors discovered a clot in her carotid artery that had travelled to her brain.”
The family were told that surgery would be challenging, due to Emma being younger. Doctors also feared her being unable to speak or move could be permanent.
Emma was moved to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on Tuesday, November 4. Nicole continued: “They were explaining her surgery over the phone too that she could have done where some of the bone would be removed from her brain.
“But because she was so young, and with the swelling, there wasn’t enough space to go. Whereas somebody who had a stroke that was older, there’s less brain and more space.
“We went up and saw the neurosurgeon. It was me and the older kids, mum’s boyfriend and the grandparents.
“He just said how sorry he was, but she couldn’t speak or move. She was bedbound, and they basically said these things could be permanent even if she had the surgery.”
When Emma was only 19-year-old, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Nicole told us her mum described it is as ‘enduring constant pain most could never imagine’.
Despite her condition, Nicole said her mum ‘never lost her strength, her humour or her love for life’. She added: “She described her pain as like as if you’ve done a workout in the gym, but your body’s just constantly. There were times where she couldn’t even move out of her bed.
“She always had to be on painkillers. She was struggling with the little ones. She needed like a lot of help.”
Nicole, Zoe, Naomi, and Andrew(Image: Edinburgh Live)
Due to her ongoing condition, Nicole and the rest of the family feared Emma ‘may not have been able to fight’ the stroke.
She told us: “Her body was so weak as it is, we were never sure if she’d have been able to fight it. They said they would observe her overnight, but she deteriorated massively.
“We got called in on Wednesday morning, and there was nothing else they could have done. For three days she fought bravely, surrounded by love.
“She was so independent, she loved doing things by herself. As that disease got worse, she needed the help – but when she was younger and fitter, she was amazing and doing it all.
“She was so bubbly, so warm, and she loved everybody around her. She never had a bad bone in her body.
“Even though she was struggling, she would put everybody first – before herself. She loved every single one of her kids, and her two grandkids.
“She brought warmth and laughter wherever she went, and her presence could brighten even the darkest days. She had a way of making people feel seen, loved and understood, and she will be missed by everyone lucky enough to have known her.
“The family is at peace knowing that Emma will no longer have to suffer from pain, and that she will live on through her beautiful children, where her memory will never be forgotten.”
You can help Nicole and her siblings give Emma the ‘send off she deserves’ on her GoGundMe.
