FRIENDS of a young Greenock woman who died in hospital have raised almost £2,000 to help her grieving family. 

Shannon Malone Strang passed away a week after being admitted to Inverclyde Royal, aged just 23.

Her grandmother Ray Strang, 72, was Shannon’s next of kin, following the death of both her parents two years ago.

The family have been left devastated by the tragedy.
Shannon’s best friend Jade Hoggan quickly rallied to help Ray and the family in their time of need and set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for the funeral.

Jade, 28, said: “I’m devastated.

“She is a young woman taken too soon. I’d known Shannon for about 12 years and she was my best friend.

“We were inseparable. I used to live in the next building to her and we were constantly together.”

Jade said she wanted to help Ray and Shannon’s uncle John at this traumatic time.

She said: “I set up the fund to help her gran and family as it’s not an age where you’re expecting this to happen. The family needs all the support they can get just now.

“Shannon went through a rough time losing both her parents within months of each other. Her gran was all she had left, then this happens to her.”

As we went to press, the total was approaching £1,900 – just £600 short of Jade’s target.

Shannon had been complaining of numbness in her hands and feet and had been to casualty on a number of occasions before being admitted to hospital. She subsequently underwent surgery to remove her gallbladder and her condition rapidly deteriorated. Within days she was in a high dependency unit, then fighting for her life in intensive care before suffering a cardiac arrest.

Shannon’s loved ones are awaiting the results of a post-mortem as they seek answers about what happened to her and NHS bosses have launched a review into her death.

To make a donation to the appeal fund visit https://www.gofundme.com/jfjubd-shannons-funeral