A COMMUNITY will gather together in a fortnight in memory of a teenager who died days after catching flu.
Friends and family of Melissa Price, 19, who died from complications caused by a strain of Influenza A, have rallied together to organise 'Mel's May Day' on May 17, a day filled with music, sports and bouncy castles in memory of the 'caring' teen from South Woodham Ferrers.
"It's a chance to remember Mel in a really good way. She was a fun and lovely young girl, and all her close friends have been involved in organising the day," said family friend Billy Foxwell.
"It's a fun day for the community of South Woodham where both Mel and her sister grew up, and held where they both went to school."
Melissa, or Mel to those who knew her, was just about to begin a college course training as a counsellor when she fell ill with a seemingly innocuous cold on January 2.
"I had a bit of a cold too and so we thought we'd caught it off one another but then on January 7 Mel came home from work and told my step-dad she felt rubbish and didn't want to go back," said older sister Stephanie.
"My mum couldn't sleep that night as she could hear Mel coughing and then at around midnight she went in and found that she was having trouble breathing and so called an ambulance. We followed in the car and thought she would be fine. We were really encouraged as they thought it was pneumonia and that's what she believed it was too."
But hours after being rushed to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Melissa suffered a cardiac arrest and her condition deteriorated to the point at which doctors decided to transfer her to Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, a specialist centre for heart and lung problems.
"I know it sounds strange but the atmosphere there was really positive. We would tell them what Mel's favourite songs were and when they came on the radio they would turn it up louder. There was one nurse called Ellie who was fantastic, she and Mel would have been friends if they'd met under different circumstances," added Stephanie, 22.
"Even when we were waiting for her to go we were still talking about funny things she had done as we thought it would be nice for her to hear that – if we wanted to cry we went outside and did it where she couldn't hear us."
The family were told that if Melissa made no improvement within 48 hours she would be unlikely to respond to treatment at all, and on January 13 the decision was made to switch off her life-support machine. It was only discovered after her death that she had suffered from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
It is as a result of the 'fantastic' treatment Melissa received at Papworth that her friends and family have worked together to organise 'Mel's May Day', to raise funds for both the hospital, and Haven's Hospice, which the teen supported.
"We had never heard of Papworth Hospital before we had to go there and seeing what they do we want to give something back so that they can help other's in Mel's situation," said Stephanie.
"The money we raise will help families who don't know how long they are going to be waiting, just like us.
"Mel always thought of others and she would love the fact that we have brought the community together for a day of family fun."
