Paramedics test for fatal illness after dad's death

Pub regulars have raised £18,000 in memory of a young dad who died as a result of a serious complication with his diabetes, allowing ambulance crews across the West Midlands to test for it.

Nik Russell had diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), where a lack of insulin causes harmful substances known as ketones to build up in the blood.

Fundraising by staff and customers at The Elizabethan on Woodside, Telford, has helped pay for ketone testing equipment to be routinely available to crews across the region.

The pub is one of the finalists in the BBC Make a Difference Awards this autumn.

Lesley Russell, his mother, said the "pain" of losing him was "there all the time" but she was proud that paramedics could now test all diabetics for DKA.

"That's a great thing and in our son's name."

The 32-year-old, who lived alone, died at his home in January 2022.

His family had been aware he was unwell and called an ambulance but he refused to go to hospital.

Paramedics checked his blood sugars but at the time ketone meters and testing strips were not widely available.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said they were the first trust in the country to test for DKA, but the equipment only started to roll out in May 2021, a few months before his death.

His father Phil Russell said now they know about the tests it would have been "so, so simple to have kept him alive".

Since losing their son, both parents have been determined to raise awareness of the life threatening complication.

"People know in Telford, now, about DKA and they know a lot about it," said his mother.

Nik was a familiar face at The Elizabethan pub, which was run by his mother for many years.

She said she could "never explain how big the support and love was" from the local community when he died.

The current landlady, Kely Lake and her twin daughters Peyton and Tamsin Gray have been behind much of the fundraising.

They have put on jumble sales, curry nights, raffles, busking and Nik's son Leon even took part in a 10-mile walk.

"It's been a massive group effort from everyone in the pub, we couldn't have done it without everybody here" said the twins.

Diabetes UK gave them a choice of projects the £18,000 could be spent on.

Lake said the one that "stood out" was improving ambulance care for DKA.

After donating the money she received an email which said they were shutting down the project because the goal, to have ketone testing strips on ambulances, had been achieved.

"When they sent that letter, I think we were all just crying. What Nik went through doesn't necessarily have to happen again."

Lake said it had been an "absolute shock" when she was contacted by BBC Radio Shropshire to be told they were finalists in the fundraising category of the Make a Difference Awards.

"I think all of us, not just me, deserve that nomination because they've worked so hard and just been so kind."

She added that it was "all in honour of Nik".

"His tragic loss has made a difference to the ambulances and people knowing a lot more about diabetes and DKA".