48-Year-Old Alcoholic Mother Who Has Only Two Months To Live Warns Against Heavy Drinking

A 48-year-old woman who drinks up to four bottles of wine a night has been told she has just two months to live. Hazel Birnie's daughter is due to give birth in December, an event that should be the happiest in any mother's life. But after a lifetime of alcoholism, she knows she won't be alive to see her grandchild being born. With advanced liver disease and just weeks to live, Mrs Birnie, of Aberdeen, has now spoken out to warn others of the dangers of heavy drinking.

She has end stage alcohol-related liver disease at just 48-years-old, and doctors have told her there is nothing more they can do. She is not fit enough to undergo a transplant - and has zero liver function. Fluid has built up in her stomach area which is crushing her heart and other vital organs and has left her struggling to breathe. She also struggles to walk and needs a Zimmer frame. She has now been admitted to hospital for end-of-life care after being told she has only up to two months left to live. However Mrs Birnie says she doesn’t want pity. ‘I’ve brought this on myself. It’s my own fault,’ she told The Daily Record.  

The mother-of-three described her ordeal as a slow, painful death and urged others not to become addicted to alcohol because it 'robs' your life. Mrs Birnie said: 'According to the doctors, I've got zero liver function and basically my body is shutting down. I've been given weeks to months, no more than that. 'It is a horrible, slow painful way to go and I would just hate somebody else to go through what I'm going through. 'I can hardly breathe, my stomach is so huge that everything is pushed up and it is restricting my heart and all my organs. 'I've had so many blood transfusions I've lost count - I've got muscle wastage. It's not just your liver it affects, there are other problems with your body because your liver is not working. 'All I am trying to do is warn people, to do one last good thing before I die.'

Mrs Birnie's problems started after she hit the bottle to try to numb the pain of her partner, Victor who died suddenly 10 years ago. He died from an aneurysm, leaving her alone with three young children and her grief. By the time her children were grown up, Mrs Birnie found herself drinking a box of 12 per cent wine every night as she tried to cope with the loneliness. Most boxes of wine sold at supermarkets contain up to three litres, the equivalent of up to four bottles of wine. Today, she still drinks three glasses of wine a day to cope with alcohol withdrawal symptoms. 

Now, Mrs Birnie knows the result of her drinking is that she won't be alive when her first grandchild is born in December. She said: 'I won't be here to meet them. My little girl is going to need her mum to help her through it too, but I'm not going to be around to do that for her. 'I would have loved to have held that baby in my arms, I would have spoilt it rotten like a granny should. 'I feel guilty about that every day.'

The dying mother had hoped to end her life at home surrounded by her belongings and family photos of her two daughters, aged 19 and 21 and her 22-year-old son. But she said she now realised she would be in too much pain and will need to spend her last days in hospital. Most of all, she says she regrets the pain she has caused her family. She said: 'The anger and the distress I've caused my family is making me very anxious. It's not only the person who is drinking, it is the family who suffer as well. 'It's a very selfish disease to have. 'It robs you of everything, your family, your dignity and your respect. 'I don't want to scare people, I just want to warn them. Some people can have two drinks and that's enough. I'm at the point now where my body can't take it. 'There's no higher price to pay than the one I'm paying now and that's with my life.'