Editing Sue Townsend (section)

==Health problems==
Townsend experienced ill health for several years. She was a [[chain smoker]], had [[tuberculosis]] (TB), [[peritonitis]] at 23 and had a [[heart attack]] in her 30s.<ref name="Kellaway14"/> She developed [[diabetes]] in the 1980s.<ref name="BBC1104AMST">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-26982680|title=Adrian Mole author Sue Townsend dies|date=11 April 2014|work=[[BBC News]]|access-date=11 April 2014}}</ref> It was a condition with which she struggled, believing herself to be the "world's worst diabetic".<ref name="Kellaway10">Kate Kellaway [https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2010/aug/01/sue-townsend-kate-kellaway "Sue Townsend: 'I hate it when people call me a national treasure'"], ''The Observer'', 1 August 2010</ref> The condition led to Townsend's being registered blind in 2001,<ref name="thetimes"/> and she wove this theme into her work.

After experiencing kidney failure, she underwent [[Kidney dialysis|dialysis]] and in September 2009 she received a kidney from her elder son Sean, after a two-year wait for a donor.<ref name="Kellaway14"/> She also had degenerative [[arthritis]], which left her reliant on a wheelchair.<ref name="Kellaway14"/> By this time, she was dictating to Sean, who worked as her typist.<ref>Anna Metcalfe [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/4cabf652-6dc3-11e1-b98d-00144feab49a.html#axzz2ycTzZRpj "Small talk: Sue Townsend"], ''Financial Times'', 16 March 2012</ref><ref>Thomas Quinn [http://www.bigissue.com/features/interviews/3752/sue-townsend-interview-i-think-people-are-overloaded-with-information "Sue Townsend interview: "I think people are overloaded with information""], ''The Big Issue'', 11 April 2014, originally published in 2012</ref> Surgery was carried out at [[Leicester General Hospital]] and Townsend spoke to the BBC about her illness on an appeal for National Kidney Day.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/8559496.stm|title=Adrian Mole author Sue Townsend's kidney appeal|date=10 March 2010 |publisher=BBC|access-date=12 April 2014}}</ref>

===Death===
Townsend died at her home on 10 April 2014, eight days after her 68th birthday, following a [[stroke]].<ref name="BBC1104AMST"/><ref name="Eady">{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/author-sue-townsend-dead-adrian-3399021|title=Adrian Mole author Sue Townsend dies aged 68|last=Eady|first=Piers|date=11 April 2014|work=[[Daily Mirror]]|access-date=11 April 2014}}</ref> [[Stephen Mangan]], who portrayed Adrian Mole in the [[Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years (TV series)|2001 television adaptation]], stated that he was "greatly upset to hear that Sue Townsend has died. One of the warmest, funniest and wisest people I ever met".<ref name="Eady"/> Townsend was survived by her husband, four children and ten grandchildren.<ref name="Thompson">{{cite news|last=Thompson|first=Alan|url=http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Sue-Townsend-secret-writer-best-selling-author/story-20949154-detail/story.html|title=Sue Townsend: The secret writer who became a best-selling author|work=Leicester Mercury|date=11 April 2014|access-date=12 April 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413080444/http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Sue-Townsend-secret-writer-best-selling-author/story-20949154-detail/story.html|archive-date=13 April 2014}}</ref>