Reece Barrett is now grieving and left wondering where he will live
Reece Barrett is now grieving and left wondering where he will live
A teenager was left heartbroken after discovering his mum’s body on Christmas Day morning just hours after saying goodnight to her. Louise McKenzie had been to the doctors on Christmas Eve with her son, Reece Barrett, where she was diagnosed with an inflamed pancreas.
Reece, 18, told the ECHO she was informed it was nothing to worry about, and the pair went on to do their last bit of Christmas shopping that afternoon. They returned to their home in Bootle where the pair lived alone with their XL bully Virgil, where Louise, 38, began tidying the house ahead of Christmas Day.
Louise began to complain about having a dizzy spell and a headache before sitting down to rest. Reece said: “That night I went out to see my friends, have a few drinks and celebrate. She rang me to see where I was and when I was going to be home so I came straight home.
“She was upstairs asleep, she was snoring her head off like she always would. I went in, said ‘goodnight, I love you’ and gave her a kiss, she said ‘merry Christmas, I love you’.
“I stayed up for an hour or two then went to bed. When I got up, it was around 11am, she was curled up on the floor of the bathroom.
“I thought ‘what’s going on here?’. I tried to wake her up in the position she was in but there was nothing.
“I think I knew straight away she had passed away. I just went into a panic. I rang my girlfriend and she told me to ring an ambulance, the person on the phone told me to perform CPR. I thought she had started breathing but I think it was just the last of the air leaving her body. The paramedics, my girlfriend and her mum came and I was just distraught.
“I hoped the paramedics could save her but I think I already knew she was gone.
“She was pronounced dead at home and police had to come to make sure it wasn’t suspicious because it was just me and her in the house. The police came and they helped me out a lot, I have a lot of respect for them now for how they were.”
Reece, who works full-time as a civil servant after being offered a job through college, paid tribute to his mum. He said: “She was lovely. She was such a people person, she would always have a laugh and a joke with everyone.
“The last few years she’d been a bit more restricted because I left school and I was working all the time, and because we have such a big dog she would have to look after him. She was a mum, she would look after me and the dog.”
It is believed Louise died from a brain haemorrhage. Reece is currently living with his girlfriend Holly and her family until he is able to organise living arrangements for him and Virgil.
He said: “I have an inkling of when it might have started because we were tidying up in the house on Christmas Eve and she said she was dizzy and had a headache.
“We know now they’re symptoms but at the time we had no clue it was a bleed on the brain. I hate myself that I didn’t take her to the hospital, instead I told her to just sit down.”
Holding back his tears, Reece continued: “Me and my mum haven’t been best for money this year so I had tried to reassure her I wasn’t bothered about presents under the tree, I just wanted to have a nice day, Christmas dinner and watch some films. That’s the bit that gets me, the fact this has happened, it’s the craziest shock.
“My world has been turned upside down. Her Christmas pyjamas are still upstairs, she’ll never get to wear them or see everything I had promised her. It’s a killer.”
Holly’s mum, Vicki Bradshaw, has since started a GoFundMe to help Reece with the cost of living following his mum’s death, with the teen looking to get his own place so he and Virgil have a permanent roof over the heads, as he can’t afford the rent at his mum’s house.
Speaking about the fundraiser, Reece said: “At first, with the fundraiser, I just thought I’m not one to ask for help but they sat me down and told me it’s the biggest help I’m going to get during what is the hardest time of my life.
“I’ve only ever lived with my mum, I’ve never paid bills, never paid for shopping and with her passing away we’re going to lose the house, I’m going to have to live by myself on a basic wage. I had to sit there and accept the help.”
