Member's statement: Lesley Poots
Member's statement by Ms Cheryl Brownlee on .
- MLA
- Ms Cheryl Brownlee
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 30 September 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Lesley Poots
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4563394
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I rise to speak on behalf of a family facing an incredibly challenging and heartbreaking situation. On 10 September, Lesley Poots, a beloved mother and grandmother from Northern Ireland, flew from Dublin to Dubai to support her daughter, who was going through a difficult pregnancy. Sadly, just a few days into her stay, the whole family, including Lesley, contracted a severe sickness bug. After she initially showed symptoms on 15 September, Lesley's condition deteriorated rapidly, and she was rushed to hospital on 20 September, where she was diagnosed with sepsis, blood poisoning and multiple organ failure. She was minutes away from losing her life. Thanks to the swift actions of paramedics and the outstanding care from the A&E team in the Mediclinic Parkview Hospital in Dubai, Lesley was stabilised and admitted to the ICU. She remains in a critical condition on a ventilator, receiving ongoing dialysis and fighting liver and kidney failure.
In addition to the emotional toll, the financial burden on the family is immense. Lesley, unfortunately, had no private health insurance, and the cost of her treatment is rapidly mounting, exceeding £15,000 in the first 24 hours alone. The family face what could be hundreds of thousands of pounds in medical bills, if not up to £1 million for a transplant. If Lesley recovers, her family will also need to fly her home to the UK. It is with a heavy heart, yet strong hope, that the family have turned to the community for support. They are determined to give Lesley every chance to survive this horrible ordeal. Any contribution will not only ease the financial burden and strain but allow her loved ones to focus on what truly matters, which is being there for their mum. I urge everyone to keep Lesley and her family in their thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time. A GoFundMe page has been set up online. If they can, I urge Members to share it and, of course, donate. The family would be deeply grateful for any assistance as they do everything in their power to save their mum. She is far too young to go, and they need her with them.
362 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.04 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.70 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.15 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.10 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.04 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:06 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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