When dad-of-one Andrejs Krievkaln started to feel unwell, he thought it was just food poisoning - but it turned out to be something much more serious.
Andrejs, 35, was on vacation with his wife, Katerina Glazyrina, 41, and five-year-old daughter Lizzie in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria, when he started to feel sick.
He complained of a stomach ache, which they believed was food poisoning as Andrejs was otherwise in good health.
However, the pain continued and spread to his back and he ended up hospitalized in Burgas.
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Andrejs was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis - a condition caused by a sudden inflammation of the pancreas which only leads to severe complications in one in five cases, and only a small percentage of those prove fatal, according to the NHS.
As per Mayo Clinic, symptoms of acute pancreatitis include: pain in the upper belly, pain in the upper belly that radiates to the back, stomach that's tender to touch, fever, rapid pulse, upset stomach, and vomiting.
Katerina said Andrejs told her not to worry and he would be 'home soon' after he was hospitalized.
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But after she left the hospital, Andrejs’ condition caused multiple organ failure and he tragically passed away on January 4, just 36 hours after first complaining of stomach pains.
Katerina said the day she found out that her husband had died was 'the hardest day of [her] life'.
"I don’t know how I managed to get through it," she told PA Real Life. "We were preparing to return to normal life after the Christmas time.
"It’s like you went on holiday and you can never come back to the life you’ve been building together."
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Katerina wants to raise awareness of the symptoms of pancreatitis. She also hopes to encourage parents to take out life insurance, saying: "You never know what events can happen and you don’t want to add financial pressure on top of the grief and many other complexities that surround loss."
Katerina, originally from Russia, met Latvian-born Andrejs in London in 2006 while they were both students.
Following seven years of friendship, their relationship blossomed into love and they tied the knot at Hackney City Hall in 2013, before welcoming Lizzie into the world in 2019.
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"He was a family man - that was his focus," Katerina said.
Andrejs' unexpected passing has shaken their community, who have since rallied together to raise thousands of pounds for Lizzie, with money also going towards Andrejs' funeral.
"The community response has been amazing," Katerina said.
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"I never expected it in a million years. I’m just grateful, that’s all I can say."
At the time of writing, over £13,000 ($16,800) has been raised via GoFundMe.
You can donate here.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email [email protected].
Niamh Shackleton