Katerina Glazirina and her husband, 35-year-old Andrejs Krivkalns, were on holiday in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, with their five-year-old daughter Lizzie, when he complained of stomach pains.
The man thought it was food poisoning. So the London family simply bought medicine from the pharmacy. Things soon spiraled out of control and the man died in hospital a few hours later.
The incident dates back to January this year, writes the Independent, quoted by bTV.
Katerina and her husband assumed it was food poisoning, as Andrey was in good health and had previously had similar symptoms.
However, the pain continued and spread to his back and he was soon admitted to the hospital in Burgas with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis - a sudden inflammation of the pancreas, which leads to serious complications in only one in five cases. According to the National Health Service, only a small percentage of them are fatal.
Katerina says that Andreys told her not to worry and that he would be home “soon”.
After she left the hospital, Andreys' condition caused multiple organ failure and he died on January 4.
“When I heard the news, I couldn't believe it. It was the hardest day of my life. I don't know how I got through it. We were getting ready to go back to normal after Christmas. "You go on holiday and you can never go back to the life you built together," Katerina told PA Real Life.
The woman now wants to prevent others from a similar tragedy by raising awareness of the symptoms of pancreatitis.
They include a sudden, severe pain in the centre of the abdomen that gets worse and can spread to the back.
She also hopes to encourage parents to take out life insurance, adding: "You never know what events can happen and you don't want to add financial pressure to the grief and the many other difficulties that come with loss."
Katerina, who is originally from Russia, met Latvian-born Andreys in London in 2006 while they were both students.
After seven years of friendship, their relationship blossomed into love and they married at Hackney City Hall in 2013, before Lizzie was born in 2019.
For their New Year's holiday, the family went to the Black Sea in Bulgaria.
A week and a half passed quickly and the moment came when they had to return to London on January 4, but the day before that, Andrejs told Katerina that he had a stomach ache.
The man decided that he had food poisoning, because it had happened to him before and the pain was similar.
So he decided that it would be better if he lay down. At this time, Katerina packed their luggage. But the pain continues, spreading to his back and making his stomach sensitive even to touch.
However, he says he is ready to fly and that he is able to sit up.
“He probably didn't want to worry me“, the woman says.
Katerina goes to the local pharmacy, but the medication doesn't help.
“He started to turn pale, so we canceled the flight and called an ambulance. "They found that his blood pressure was low," Katerina recalls.
Andreis was taken to a hospital in Burgas, where the doctor told Katerina that he had pancreatitis.
When she last saw Andrei, he told her: "Don't worry, I'll be home soon."
Katerina returned to the hospital a little later to find that her husband was already in intensive care with complications.
After his death, Katerina's local community in Hackney came together to raise money for her and her daughter, raising more than £12,500 through an online fundraising campaign.
“The response from the community has been incredible. I never expected it. "I'm just grateful, that's all I can say," Katya said.
She also explained that the reason is not just about the money, but the way people want to show support.
Despite the tragedy and difficulties that followed, Katerina hopes she can use her experience to help others who are going through the same thing.
"It's hard to find the balance between grief and the overwhelming responsibility of things you have to do. I want to help people who are going through big changes in their lives," the woman says.
Kristina said she will never forget her husband and believes that their growing daughter will be his greatest pride.