A brave nursery teacher planned her own funeral and sent goodbye texts to loved ones after she suspected she would not wake from an induced coma. Bethannie Booth was just 24 when she died surrounded by her family in hospital on March 31. Ms Booth, from South Wales, had been suffering from cold and flu-like symptoms which turned out to be a Strep A infection that developed into sepsis.
Before she died Ms Booth showed remarkable courage issuing instructions to her family and friends for her own funeral, including asking for people to wear brightly coloured bucket hats.
In a moving tribute hundreds of mourners dressed in vibrant clothes attended Ms Booth’s ceremony at Llwydcoed Crematorium on Friday May 12.
Her mother, Leanne Booth said her daughter chose the theme due to her zest for life, WalesOnline reports.
She said: “She just loved life, loved festivals and also had Ibiza booked for her holiday in July. [She] just loved wearing the bucket hat with quirky sunglasses.”
“She was a beautiful young lady with a beautiful soul, fun-loving, caring and lived her life to the full. As a family we called her the weekend offender.
“As a nursery teacher, Bethannie took her job very seriously and professionally.
“I can honestly say I’ve never ever met someone who loved their job as much as her. The children adored her; she was well and truly loved by them all.”
Ms Booth was the youngest of three daughters and was dearly loved by her older sisters, Megan, 25 and Nia-Ffion, 27, and younger brother, Corey, 10. She was an auntie to Parker, three, Caled, four months, and Myles, nine weeks.
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Her sister Megan previously told WalesOnline that Bethannie loved her nephews very much. She also described how, while Bethannie was in hospital, the children at the school she worked at all wrote cards and messages to her.
Megan said: “The one thing they all said was how much she made them laugh.”
Dad Wayne said he, Leanne, Nia-Ffion and Megan all held Ms Booth’s hand when she died.
They praised the doctors at both Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital and the Royal Glamorgan Hospital for doing all they could to help and thanked everyone from the consultants to the cleaners.
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Following her death, the family wish to raise awareness of sepsis and its symptoms. You can read about the signs and symptoms of sepsis here.
A fundraiser, which has now closed, raised nearly £8,000 in her memory and went towards giving Ms Booth her perfect send off.
