Latest news with #LucyParker


BBC News
31-07-2025
- BBC News
Aston Villa's Lucy Parker wants law change after cat's crash death
An Aston Villa footballer whose cat was thrown in a bin after being hit by a car is backing calls from the RSPCA for a change in the Parker says she wants it to become mandatory for drivers to report crashes with cats as well as for agencies to be compelled to scan dead cats they find for a microchip and notify current laws, motorists must stop and report crashes involving animals such as dogs, horses and cattle but cats are not included in the legislation, the RSPCA Parker said: "We were incredibly lucky to find Wilma as it has become apparent to me that not everyone is granted that same closure." The Villa defender's cat went missing on 17 May and she was eventually able to find out her cat's fate on 20 May after "many social media posts".Wilma was actually first found on 18 May but nobody alerted Parker until a few days said she thought the current lack of legislation for cats "just doesn't seem fair".The 26-year-old, who was named as a standby player for England's Euro 2025 squad, has more than 25,500 followers on Instagram and nearly 17,000 followers on TikTok and said: "I want to use my voice to help level the playing field." As well as campaigning for a change in the law, the RSPCA is urging motorists to take dead or injured cats to the nearest vets following a Potter, from the RSPCA, added: "The tragic story of Lucy's cat Wilma highlights just how important that closure can be for owners."We're so grateful for her support in securing a fairer deal for cats and their owners."The Department for Transport has been contacted for a response. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.


Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Warning over popular drink after mother-of-two develops organ damage from daily habit
A mother-of-two who developed organ damage after drinking several cans of Red on a daily basis has warned against getting 'hooked' on the energy drinks. Lucy Parker, 35, from Perth in Australia, initially booked in for a medical scan to investigate pain she'd been having in her thighs. While the cause of this was revealed to be an ovarian cyst, the scan also revealed signs of serious harm on her liver. Images revealed the vital organ had an extreme build-up of fat which—if left to progress—can lead to organ failure as well as an increased risk of cancer. Ms Parker, who is a healthy weight, blamed her habit of drinking three Red Bulls per day, equivalent to consuming 81g of sugar per day (the equivalent of nearly two and a half Mars bars), for the problem. She's since quit the energy drinks altogether and said follow-up scans have shown signs her liver is recovering. The creative director for a marketing agency admitted she had been 'addicted' to Red Bull. 'If I knew I didn't have a Red Bull in the fridge before I went to bed I would drive out to go and get one or figure out how to get one first thing in the morning,' she said. 'I was having 81 grams of sugar a day in just those drinks. 'When you look at it on a scale there's no way you can eat that much sugar, it would make you sick.' The NHS advises that adults should have less than 30g of sugar per day, meaning Ms Parker was consuming nearly triple the recommended maximum. She added that even her daughters had noticed her reliance on the popular energy drink. 'Even my two kids on Mother's Day at school when they had to write down things about their mum they said "my mum's favourite drink is Red Bull",' she said. Recalling the moment medics gave her the scan results earlier this year, Ms Parker said it was mixture of relief followed by shock. 'Doctors were like "this is what's shown up-there's a cyst on your ovary we'll keep an eye on but that's the not the thing we're worried about",' she said. 'They told me "There's a lot of fat around your liver". 'They said it's basically where fat builds up around the liver and it's not able to work as well as it should.' While this toxic build-up of fat can be caused by drinking large amounts of alcohol, tests later revealed her condition was specifically non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is a similar condition which is most commonly seen in overweight or obese individuals, particularly those with a lot of fat around their waist. In its early stages it doesn't trigger any noticeable symptoms, but medics can detect it during scans performed for other reasons, as in Ms Parker's case. If left to progress the disease causes the liver to suffer increasing damage from inflammation, leading to internal scarring of the organ which make it works less effectively. As the liver, which helps with digestion and filtering out toxins, shuts down, patients can begin to experience dull aching pain in their abdomen, extreme fatigue, weight loss and weakness. At the most severe stage this damage becomes permanent, and organ will begin to fail and become at high risk of developing tumours. Ms Parker said that upon getting the diagnosis she immediately quit drinking Red Bull. And a subsequent scan held six weeks later showed this was already showing results. Ms Parker said: 'My doctor said "whatever you have done between the last session and now is working". 'I just said "I've stopped drinking the Red Bull". 'She told me to keep doing that and in six months' time we will have reversed it hopefully.' Ms Parker said she had no 'no symptoms' prior to her diagnosis and urged others with a similar love of energy drinks to get checked. 'I had no pain, no nothing,' she said. 'If someone reading this is drinking the same amount of energy drinks for that period of time I would suggest they get a blood test.' She added this was particularly the case for fellow people with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who may be using energy drinks to 'calm down'. 'If you have ADHD it just does the opposite to what it would do for a neurotypical person,' she said. 'It calms me puts everything into check and helps me get through the day.' Official data shows 345 Britons died from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in 2023, a slight rise from the pervious year's 323 with experts noting the rate had risen significantly since the Covid pandemic. Ms Parker's warning comes after the Government announced plans last year to ban under-16s from buying energy drinks due to concerns they are harming young people's health. Many supermarket chains across the country already have a voluntarily ban on selling the products to minors. But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his party would make this mandatory in the run-up to the General Election in 2024. Drinks such as Red Bull, Prime and Monster can have up to 150mg of caffeine, almost double that of a black coffee. With some brands available for as little as 25p a can, many of the energy boosting drinks can be cheaper than bottled water and are a popular pick-me-up among young people.


Daily Mirror
29-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Mum with £19K Red Bull addiction goes cold turkey after chilling CT scan
Lucy Parker, 35, went in for a CT scan for another health problem only to be warned that she was at risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - she's now quit her Red Bull habit A mum who had a £19,000 "addiction" to Red Bull has gone cold turkey after being diagnosed with a serious disease. Lucy Parker, 35, went for a CT scan after feeling pain in her thighs, which revealed a cyst on her ovary. But the same scan also unexpectedly showed that she had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - a build-up of fat in the organ - which could lead to serious liver damage, including cirrhosis, if it got worse. After cutting her three energy drinks a day habit, which saw her spend almost £20,000 on the energy drink over 15 years, Lucy claims doctors have seen improvements in her liver and have not found evidence of fibrosis, which means her condition is reversible. She has also been using the AI tool ChatGPT to help her make "little swaps" in her diet and help her understand her condition more clearly - and is hoping to fully reverse the damage by going cold turkey. Mum-of-two Lucy, a creative director for a marketing agency, from Perth, Australia, said: "I was addicted to Red Bull. If I knew I didn't have a Red Bull in the fridge before I went to bed I would drive out to go and get one or figure out how to get one first thing in the morning. "I was having 81 grams of sugar a day in just those drinks. When you look at it on a scale there'' no way you can eat that much sugar, it would make you sick. "I was so ashamed - it completely consumed me. Even my two kids on Mother's Day at school when they had to write down things about their mum they said 'my mum's favourite drink is Red Bull'." Lucy first discovered the issues with her liver when going for a CT scan in March - and said doctor told her the cysts they found were "not the thing we're worried about." " She explained: "They told me: 'There's a lot of fat around your liver'. They said it's basically where fat builds up around the liver and it's not able to work as well as it should." After a blood test the following month, it was determined rather than having alcoholic fatty liver disease - caused by excessive alcohol consumption - Lucy had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease . "Doctors gave me six weeks and then I had another scan on my ovary, liver and more blood tests," Lucy said. "I came home and looked in the fridge I had two Red Bulls left. I thought 'these are the last ones I'll have, this is serious now'. I stopped drinking them after those two. That was about four weeks ago." Lucy also found Chat GPT helpful in understanding her diagnosis and making swaps in her diet - such as going from consuming white to wholegrain bread. Following an ADHD diagnosis two years ago, Lucy found her early morning Red Bull was her "first dopamine hit". "If you have ADHD it just does the opposite to what it would do for a neurotypical person," she said." It calms me down. "Because of that dopamine it puts everything into check and helps me get through the day. I only struggled with headaches for a couple of days after stopping drinking Red Bull and they weren't extreme. "With the energy thing I'm still looking to caffeine. If you have a Coke Zero in the afternoon every now and then it's better than three Red Bulls a day. I've had so many people message me saying 'I'm addicted to energy drinks'." After a fibrosis scan on her liver and more blood tests last week, Lucy found her liver was "improving". She said: "My doctor said 'whatever you have done between the last session and now is working'. "I just said 'I've stopped drinking the Red Bull'. She told me to keep doing that and in six months' time we will have reversed it hopefully." Lucy had "no symptoms" with her diagnosis and urges others to get checked. She said: "I had no pain, no nothing. If someone reading this is drinking the same amount of energy drinks for that period of time I would suggest they get a blood test."
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mum with £19k Red Bull "addiction" goes cold turkey after fatty liver diagnosis
A mum who had a £19k "addiction" to Red Bull has gone cold turkey after being diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Lucy Parker, 35, went for a CT scan after having pain in her thighs which revealed a cyst on her ovary and also highlighted a build-up of fat in the liver - which could lead to serious liver damage, including cirrhosis, if it got worse. After cutting her three energy drinks a day habit - which saw her spend almost £20k on the energy drink over 15 years - Lucy claims doctors have seen improvements in her liver and says has no damage like fibrosis which means her condition is reversible. She has also been using Chat GPT to help her make "little swaps" in her diet and help her understand her condition more clearly - which she's hoping to fully reverse after going cold turkey on the fizzy energy drinks.


Glasgow Times
15-05-2025
- Health
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow City Council paid £600k to employees hurt at work
A Freedom of Information request has revealed that Glasgow City Council has been forced to fork out an eye-watering £629,291 over the last three years to workers injured in slips, trips, falls and manual handling of defective equipment while at work. The highest pay out to staff was £447,487 in the financial year 2022/23, while £181,804 was paid during 2023/24. Physical injury was the most common reason for action being taken, with 161 claims submitted. This number was followed by physical and psychological injuries, with 45 local authority employees successfully lodging actions. Councillor Paul Carey BEM says more care needs to be taken to safeguard people doing their duties and subsequently protect the public purse. Councillor Paul Carey BEM (Image: Supplied) He told the Glasgow Times: 'This is a shocking amount of money to spend on compensating staff injured doing their jobs. Here we have a cash-strapped council paying hundreds of thousands of pounds for slips and accidents that should be avoided. If more effective protective measures were in place and proper risk assessments had been carried out, this figure would be substantially lower. "The council quite simply doesn't have this kind of money to waste on claims that could, and should, have been avoided." Councils have a duty of care to staff under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which states they should take every reasonable step to ensure people's safety in the course of their employment. Examples of measures include conducting regular risk assessments, communicating an up-to-date health and safety policy to all staff, providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and training employees to work safely without harming themselves or others. Failure to comply with any of the above can constitute a failure around health and safety codes and a breach of the local authority's duty of care. Employees who have been injured in a workplace accident may be able to make a claim for compensation if their employer is found to have been at fault by failing to provide a safe working environment. Solicitor for JF Law, Lucy Parker, said: 'Councils, like all employers, have a legal obligation and owe a significant duty of care to safeguard their workforce and prevent them from harm. "Unfortunately, council workers can often be involved in workplace accidents ranging from seemingly minor issues like slips on wet floors and trips on uneven surfaces to more serious incidents involving manual handling and defective equipment. Sometimes, workplace accidents could have been avoided with proper risk assessments and safety measures. "Making sure that councils are sticking to their legal responsibilities after an accident is crucial as it can ensure lessons are learned to prevent future incidents." In 2022, 78 workplace accident claims were made against Glasgow City Council, the highest number over the past three years. A year later, this number decreased to 71. The council has seen the number of actions drop over the past year, with a total of 64 successful claims. Glasgow City Council were approached for comment.