Teenage girl dies from blood clot just days before Christmas after taking first contraceptive pill
She was only 16 years old
A teenage girl has tragically died from a blood clot just days before Christmas after taking her first contraceptive pill.
Layla Khan, who had only just started college this year, suffered from painful menstrual cycles and was advised to take a contraceptive pill by some friends to help with her symptoms.
Layla, 16, started to take the contraceptive pills last month (25 November) but just a week or so later (5 December), she started to experience headaches and, by the end of the week, she began vomiting.
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Recalling the moment, Layla's aunt, Jenna Braithwaite, said: "On the Sunday night, she was being sick, a lot. She was basically vomiting every 30 minutes so they got a GP appointment on the Monday morning, they took her to the GP. Even though she was being sick the whole time she was at the GP's, they gave her anti-sickness tablets and told her that they thought it was a stomach bug.
"They said there was no red flags to go to the hospital, and to go to the hospital on Wednesday if it continued."
However, the following day on Monday evening, Layla's pain only intensified with Jenna reporting she began to scream out in pain.
Talking about her teenage niece, Jenna said that she was trying to look after Layla, who told her the pain was 'all over'.
The family, who hail from Immingham in North Lincolnshire, then decided to take her to hospital, but Layla collapsed in the bathroom and Jenna and Layla's mother had to carry her to the car, where she became increasingly unresponsive.
They drove from Immingham to the nearest hospital in Grimsby where with medical staff later running a CT scan and found a blood clot in her brain, before sending her to Hull Royal Infirmary in Yorkshire.
She underwent an operation, but doctors said there was a high chance she wouldn't survive on Tuesday, December 12.
The next day, she was pronounced brain dead and died.
Opening up about the tragic situation, Jenna said: "Words can't even, we can't even say the words about how devastated our family are, we've only just recently lost my Nana.
"With it being so close to Christmas as well, it's a time for celebration and it sucks all the Christmas spirit out of you."
The grieving aunt added: "The fact that they said there were no red flags and then the day later she's brain dead, it's incomprehensible.
"My sister, she's got newborn babies to look after and there are other children and she's got all of that going on at the same time. It's just such a shock, she's only just started college and got a job, it's just a shock, the family's absolutely devastated."
The mourning family have since made the decision to donate Layla's organs to people who need them, and the family have heard that Layla has saved five people's lives just before Christmas, something Jenna says is 'amazing'.
Jenna's daughter, Alicia Binns, has also since set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Layla's family.
In the GoFundMe campaign, Alicia wrote: "The family is absolutely devastated, and we would like to help raise as much as possible to help with funeral costs to give Layla the best send-off possible, like she deserves.
"She was the oldest child and princess of the family, and she deserves the best because she was the best. Along with helping the family at this difficult time, especially this close to Christmas, every little helps."
You can donate to the GoFundMe here.
Rhiannon Ingle