The heart-broken family of a KFC worker who overdosed because she was allegedly bullied at work have today said they will turn her life support off on Monday.
Emma Price’s family say the 32-year-old overdosed on painkiller medication having twice complained to managers that she was being treated unfairly.
The KFC team leader is currently in an induced coma and her family were told by doctors on Thursday that she is brain dead.
Her family, from Basildon, Essex, have said they are ‘devastated’ to hear that Ms Price will not recover.
They have taken the hard decision to turn her life support off on July 22 – in three days time.
KFC team leader Emma Price (pictured) is currently in an induced coma after overdosing on painkiller medication
Before overdosing, Ms Price had told her family that she was being overworked while other staff members did nothing and that she caught them talking about her behind her back.
The young woman was told she was ‘causing trouble’ and would regularly come home in tears due to the stress of being over-worked.
Her family said today: ‘We are devastated – the house is so quiet without her.
‘She is our angel and now she is going to become a true angel.
‘We are turning the life support off on Monday as the doctor has said she is brain dead – it is too damaged.’
Emma, described by her parents as a ‘bubbly, kind-hearted person’, had been working at KFC for eight years when she was subject to the alleged bullying which began in the latter half of 2023.
Her mother, Samantha Day, 56, said: ‘Why did they not just listen to her? She was ignored and told she was causing a problem.
‘She was trying to tell them that there was something wrong. She couldn’t cope with it anymore.
‘I’m angry, I want to rant and rave at them but I can’t. It’s not fair. She doesn’t deserve this at all.
‘I don’t know what switched in her head. I don’t know what happened that morning.’
Emma’s family, from Basildon, Essex, have now decided to turn her life support. Emma is pictured here working at KFC as a team leader
Ms Day said: ‘She had a lovely salad David made for her, she was so pleased with it she took a picture and put it on Facebook.
‘There were no red flags, nothing. She told me she wasn’t feeling too well and I told her to have an early night – she hadn’t been sleeping well for months.
‘She got up at 7am on the Thursday morning, let her dog out and went straight back to bed.
‘We thought she was just tired from being overworked.’
Mr Price, a carer, spoke of his ordeal finding his daughter in her bed.
He said: ‘I went up there to wake her up at 2pm in the afternoon – she was unresponsive in her bed.
‘Her brother had to do CPR – she wasn’t breathing very well and we called an ambulance.
‘The doctor came from an air ambulance and told us her pupils were fixed and not reacting.
‘They whisked her off and we followed them up, all the while she was being ventilated.’
She was rushed to Basildon Hospital where the family have been visiting her everyday.
Emma, a ‘homey’ animal-lover, reached out to the mental health charity MIND and was due to have her first appointment with them on July 15.
She has no previous struggles with mental health and the day before her overdose, she came home to the house she shares with her parents and seemed ‘okay’.
Emma (pictured), a ‘homey’ animal-lover, reached out to the mental health charity MIND and was due to have her first appointment with them on Monday, July 15
Ms Day explained that the alleged bullying of Ms Price began to escalate around Christmas time last year.
She: ‘It was just after Christmas, she told her bosses that she was being bullied. They said: ‘No you’re not, you’re just causing trouble’.
‘She said people were talking about her behind her back, and when she told them she could hear them they’d say: ‘Yeah and?’.
‘She was rushed off her feet, working three different parts of the job at once while the others just stood around watching her. It would be “Emma’s moaning again, she always moans”.
‘She’d come home crying and we told her that she needed to find another job.. It was not a nice environment for her to be working in.’
Emma’s parents noticed a significant change in her from Christmas, noting that she stayed in her room a lot more and slept through the day before her shifts.
Ms Day added: ‘She was a little bit more forgetful, like her mind was elsewhere.’
Emma’s parents say they are aware that Emma complained to her manager at least twice about the issues at work but claim nothing was done.
Emma’s father David Price, 60, said he even went down to the branch where Emma worked in Pitsea, Essex, to try and get some answers after raising his own complaints three times.
He said: ‘I went down there about two or three months ago and tried to speak to them – they banned me from going there and told Emma I wasn’t welcome there.
‘She told me ‘they don’t listen to me’.’
As a result of the overdose, Emma has suffered a stroke and brain damage.
She is also now paralysed on her right side and is on a ventilator to keep her breathing.
Today, the family said they will have to turn her life support off on Monday as she is brain dead.
David Price (pictured with his daughter Emma) said he even went down to the branch where his daughter worked in Pitsea, Essex, to try and get some answers after raising his own complaints three times
Ms Day said: ‘I think I’ve cried so much I don’t have any tears left.
‘We sit and talk to her, she’s got four really good friends at from work who have been going up and seeing her.
‘She has been opening her eyes and sort of responding but she’s not there.
‘We just thought there was hope because she was responding to our voices but she has partial brain damage and is paralysed round the right side.
‘We said it doesn’t matter – if she can come home she’ll come home.
‘She is such a kind-hearted person, she’ll do anything for anyone. She’s so good with her nieces and nephews, and she’ll make us laugh by winding the dog up.
‘I just want people to be aware that there must be somewhere you can go or someone you can talk to if you’re being bullied. Bullying in the workplace is wrong.
‘We just want our daughter back.’
The family were fundraising through a GoFundMe for home adaptations if Emma was able to come home.
They have now pledged the money for mental health and bullying charities and her funeral.
They are also considering steps to prosecute KFC for what they claim is a failure in their duty of care and to hold them liable for Emma’s injuries.
The family expressed their anger that KFC had told them they would carry out an internal investigation – but that the firm had not asked about Emma’s condition.
A KFC Spokesperson said the company’s ‘thoughts are with Emma and her family at this difficult time’
Yesterday, a KFC spokesperson said: ‘Our thoughts are with Emma and her family at this difficult time.
‘Maintaining a working environment that is safe and inclusive for all team members is essential for us a business.
‘These allegations are being taken extremely seriously and an urgent investigation into the matter is already underway.’