 She started drinking heavily in her late teens and by the time she was in her twenties she was hopelessly addicted to alcohol. Kathy found out she was pregnant, but this did not stop her from drinking. She didn’t even cut down and carried on drinking as normal, not thinking twice about what it might do to her unborn child, even though her doctor had warned her about the dangers of drinking whilst being pregnant. Her son was born with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). He was undersized at birth and his head was smaller than normal. He also has facial abnormalities – small wide-set eyes and a thin upper lip. Kathy’s son was put into care as she was unable to look after him and as he got older it became apparent he was also suffering from mental retardation and behavioural problems. This poor innocent child was suffering mentally and physically because his mother would not address and stop drinking. He would now have to live with the disabilities thrust upon him by his mother’s irresponsible behaviour, for the rest of his life. She did not seem to care about what she had done to her son and drank on. The only thing she was interested in was her beloved alcohol and nothing stood in the way of that. Kathy was constantly drunk and she did not have a care in the world. Some years later she found herself pregnant again and even though she knew her alcoholism had caused her first child to be born with FAS, she still continued to drink. Her doctor warned her again about her alcohol abuse and told her that this baby also could be born with FAS and pleaded with her to do something about her alcoholism before it was too late. She would not listen and continued to drink. Finally, she was rushed into hospital with acute stomach pains and was losing blood. She was told by doctors she would have to stay in hospital for the duration as she was in danger of having a miscarriage. While in hospital they tried to detox her of alcohol but to no avail. Her so called friends smuggled alcohol into the ward so she could continue drinking in the way she had become accustomed. The hospital staff found out what had been going on and Kathy was discharged. Due to her constant alcohol abuse Kathy however, eventually died from alcoholism. |
