News

Jeffreyston mother ‘nearly died’ from flu

Published

9 years ago

October 21, 2016

Happier times: Helen (on the right) pictured this week with Sam

A PEMBROKESHIRE mum, who nearly died after being struck down by influenza, says it not only had a devastating effect on her but on her family too.

Helen Watts, who is asthmatic, was extremely ill in a critical care unit for a week in March and is still not well enough to go back to work.

The 42-year-old, from Jeffreyston in Pembrokeshire, said it frightened her children to the extent that after she came home, her young son checked her pulse at night to make sure she was still alive.

“And I think it was all because I didn’t have the flu vaccine,” said Helen, who is in the at-risk category because of her asthma.

In March, Helen came down with what she thought was a cold but which, after 24 hours, seemed more like a chest infection.

This exacerbated her asthma and she became so unwell that husband Lee took her to A&E at Withybush Hospital.

Helen was given antibiotics and other medication, and was admitted so tests could be carried out.

Within 24 hours, her condition deteriorated and she was admitted to the high dependency unit with what was later diagnosed as the H1N1 strain – more commonly known as swine flu.

Helen said: “I was very poorly and on the brink of being ventilated.

“It did improve after that but I was in HDU for a week and in hospital for about two weeks afterwards being very poorly.

“The doctors told me I am lucky to be here.”

Although Helen has little memory of her time in hospital, twin sister Sam Robinson, from Carmarthen, remembers it all too vividly.

Sam said: “Helen was having seizures, being bagged and central lines put in.

“Anyone who has been with someone in a critical care situation will empathise with that. You’re living for every minute.

“It was hard as a sister to watch someone that you love so much going through that. It was upsetting. I never want to see her in that position again.

“It could have been avoided, possibly, with the flu vaccination. She certainly wouldn’t have got as ill as she did.”

Helen was getting better but still quite poorly when this picture of Sam visiting her in hospital was taken. Seven months later, Helen is still not well enough to return to her job as an administrator with a photographic business.

Although she is improving, her lungs are only working at 70% capacity and she has to take a lot of steroids.

She said it had all been very tough on her family, especially on son Harri, aged 11, and 14-year-old daughter Lauren.

Helen said: “People were getting upset seeing me with all the machines, and it was very intimidating for the children.

“It really affected them. After I came home, Harri, who was aged 10 then, was actually checking my pulse in the early hours to make sure I was still alive.

“They wouldn’t let me go anywhere. They wanted to know where I was all the time.

“It was hard on my husband too because he had to deal with everything.

“But everyone was brilliant. I’m just very lucky I’ve got such a good family, and friends were fantastic too.”

Sam is a nurse and has always had the flu vaccine partly because she is also asthmatic, but also to protect the patients she cares for in the Wales Fertility Institute in Neath Port Talbot Hospital.

She also had flu earlier this year but, she said, was not too badly affected because she’d had the vaccine – which covered the H1N1 strain that had such a devastating impact on Helen.

Sam added: “To see my twin sister so poorly like that was very traumatic.

“So for me now it’s not just about protecting patients – I’m urging people to do it for their families too.

“Like Helen said, it’s the whole family that is affected, not just the person who is ill.”

Helen herself is taking no chances and arrived half an hour early to have the flu vaccine the day it was available at her GP surgery – with Harri there to have it too.

Helen said: “We’re not going to miss out on any flu vaccination ever again. We’ve had a hard lesson to learn.”

Business

First wind turbine components arrive as LNG project moves ahead

Published

2 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

THE FIRST ship carrying major components for Dragon LNG’s new onshore wind turbines docked at Pembroke Port yesterday afternoon, marking the start of physical deliveries for the multi-million-pound renewable energy project.

The Maltese-registered general cargo vessel Peak Bergen berthed at Pembroke Dock shortly after 4pm on Wednesday, bringing tower sections and other heavy components for the three Enercon turbines that will eventually stand on land adjacent to the existing gas terminal at Waterston.

A second vessel, the Irish-flagged Wilson Flex IV, is due to arrive in the early hours of this morning (Thursday) carrying the giant rotor blades.

The deliveries follow a successful trial convoy on 25 November, when police-escorted low-loader trailers carried dummy loads along the planned route from the port through Pembroke, past Waterloo roundabout and up the A477 to the Dragon LNG site.

Dragon LNG’s Community and Social Performance Officer, Lynette Round, confirmed the latest movements in emails to the Herald.

“The Peak Bergen arrived yesterday with the first components,” she said. “We are expecting another delivery tomorrow (Thursday) onboard the Wilson Flex IV. This will be blades and is currently showing an ETA of approximately 03:30.”

The £14.3 million project, approved by Welsh Ministers last year, will see three turbines with a combined capacity of up to 13.5 MW erected on company-owned land next to the LNG terminal. Once operational – expected in late 2026 – they will generate enough electricity to power the entire site, significantly reducing its carbon footprint.

Port of Milford Haven shipping movements showed the Peak Bergen approaching the Haven throughout Wednesday morning before finally tying up at the cargo berth in Pembroke Dock. Cranes began unloading operations yesterday evening.

Weather conditions are currently favourable for this morning’s arrival of the Wilson Flex IV, which was tracking south of the Smalls at midnight.

The abnormal-load convoys carrying the components from the port to Waterston are expected to begin next week, subject to final police and highway approvals.

A community benefit fund linked to the project will provide training opportunities and energy-bill support for residents in nearby Waterston, Llanstadwell and Neyland.

Further updates will be issued by Dragon LNG as the Port of Milford Haven as the delivery programme continues.

Photo: Martin Cavaney

Crime

Banned for 40 months after driving with cocaine breakdown product in blood

Published

2 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Sarah-Jane Absalom

A MILFORD HAVEN woman has been handed a lengthy driving ban after admitting driving with a controlled drug in her system more than ten times over the legal limit.

SENTENCED AT HAVERFORDWEST

Sally Allen, 43, of Wentworth Close, Hubberston, appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (Dec 4) for sentencing, having pleaded guilty on November 25 to driving with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the prescribed limit.

The court heard that Allen was stopped on August 25 on the Old Hakin Road at Tiers Cross while driving an Audi A3. Blood analysis showed 509µg/l of Benzoylecgonine, a breakdown product of cocaine. The legal limit is 50µg/l.

COMMUNITY ORDER AND REHABILITATION

Magistrates imposed a 40-month driving ban, backdated to her interim disqualification which began on November 25.

Allen was also handed a 12-month community order, requiring her to complete 10 days of rehabilitation activities as directed by the Probation Service.

She was fined £120, ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £114 surcharge. Her financial penalties will be paid in £25 monthly instalments from January 1, 2026.

The bench—Mrs H Roberts, Mr M Shankland and Mrs J Morris—said her guilty plea had been taken into account when passing sentence.

Local Government

Sewage leak at Pembroke Commons prompts urgent clean-up works

Published

3 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Council pollution officers say they have no enforcement powers over Welsh Water infrastructure

SEWAGE contamination on the Commons in Pembroke has prompted an urgent response from pollution officers, after a leak was reported by a member of the public on Tuesday.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Pollution Control Team confirmed they were alerted yesterday afternoon to sewage surrounding a manhole cover on the site. The Herald understands that officers immediately notified Welsh Water (DCWW) network technicians to investigate the incident “as a matter of urgency”.

County councillor Jonathan Grimes, who represents Pembroke St Mary South and Monkton, said the authority had been clear that it holds no enforcement powers over Welsh Water assets.

“Whilst we work constructively with Welsh Water, we have no authority to intervene on their apparatus or to carry out enforcement action against them for such pollution incidents,” the Pollution Control Team said in a statement shared with the councillor.

Urgent works underway

Council officers visited the site on Wednesday morning alongside contractors and Welsh Water technicians to assess clean-up options. According to the team, works will include cleaning the contaminated ground in and around the manhole cover and fencing off the affected area “until safe”.

Cllr Grimes said officers would return to the scene on Thursday to check on progress and ensure the area is properly secured.

Residents who notice any further issues have been urged to contact the Pollution Control Team directly.

Further updates are expected later this week.