Tributes paid to New Mills woman who 'never stopped helping others'

Diane Kaylor spoke to the Advertiser in November about what it was like to live with the very rare lung condition Pulmonary Hypertension. Sadly Diane died earlier this month, aged just 60.

Paying tribute to her, her partner of 20 years, Kraig Mycock said: “What a woman Diane was.

“She was a brilliant cricketer and could hit a ball across the river at Hayfield and there’s not many blokes who could do that!”

Pulmonary Hypertension causes high pressure in the pulmonary arteries – the blood vessels connecting the heart and lungs – and can leave people unable to work or manage everyday activities.

There is no cure, and the condition can eventually cause heart failure as the heart has to work harder to pump the oxygen around the body.

It is a rare condition with only 8,000 people living with it in the UK but is often misdiagnosed as asthma or anxiety.

Kraig said: “I met Diane as my cousin was her best friend and we just clicked when she returned from India more than 20 years ago.

“It was in India she found Buddhism and she worked at a Buddhist centre in Manchester.

“There she helped people with chronic pain and helped them with meditation. I think this really helped her in her final months when she had to step back as she realised time was precious but she never stopped thinking of ways to help others.”

Diane was admitted to hospital earlier in the year and returned home with two oxygen machines to help her breathe instead of just the one she had previously.

Kraig said: “It’s so quiet now she’s gone. The noise the machines made even when we were sitting reading you could hear them so the absence of that noise is so loud.

“The sadness and shock of her not being here anymore comes in waves and I still can’t quite believe it.”

Diane’s funeral will take place at Blackley Crematorium on Friday, March 18 at 2pm. Diane has requested no flowers and any donations to be made to Breathworks via Jeremy Unsworth Funeral Directors.

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