Sarah
died at the age of 29 years on the 18th of August 2000, of an undetected
heart condition called Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy. To see her
you'd have never thought there'd be anything wrong with her. She was so
fit and active and went to keep fit at the gym and also did yoga. She
loved life, and she lived life to the full.
She achieved so much in her
life. She gained 9 "O" levels, as well as "A" levels, and went on to
Birmingham University. At the time of her death, she was an office
manager for a company called P.D.C. Brush in Crewe.
Sarah loved watching her
beloved Arsenal Football team, and also drawing, sketching, and painting -
and she had an "A" level in Art. She loved listening to many of her
CDs and singing to them, and even did a few karaokes and won some prizes
as well. She was our life, and our hearts broke into a thousand
pieces the day she died. She had everything to live for, it seems so
unfair she was taken from us. We love and miss her terribly.
She collapsed at work just
outside the main office on a Friday afternoon around 4.30pm. At
4.10pm I'd been talking to her on the phone and said me and Ian would see
her in town on the Saturday morning. She said she was fine, and I
went on my way to work for 5.30pm.
Then my husband Harry received
a call from her boss, who told him the best he could what had happened.
Sarah's boss arranged a taxi to take Harry to Leighton Hospital in Crewe
and he'd meet him at A & E. My husband phoned my supervisor, and she
rushed me and Ian (Sarah's brother) there. The police had to go to
break the news to my other son Lee and he was in a terrible state.
When we arrived at the
hospital, Harry was coming out of the Resuscitation Room with a nurse, and
he said Sarah's heart had stopped and doctors and staff were trying to
revive her. We just couldn't believe what was happening to our
lovely daughter. The nurse took me to see her, while they were
trying to get her back. It was like a bad dream and was I wondering
when I was going to wake up - only to find nothing happening.
The doctors tried for an hour,
but it was all in vain. Even they were all upset, we were told, as
you can imagine you would be. At her funeral, three managing
directors came from Belgium to attend. Her boss said they'd never
been to a funeral for someone so young who had worked for them. She
was thought of so fondly by them, everybody who met her loved her - all
her friends and colleagues came as well. The chapel was packed and
some were outside too.
My eldest son Lee who is 33
years old, ran the London Marathon in memory of her and raised £2000 for
CRY. We were so proud of him (his first ever run) and now my other
son Ian, who is 18, is running the 2006 London Marathon (his first) for
her too. I'm sure she is so proud of them.
When we lost Sarah we, we just
didn't lose a daughter and sister. We lost our best friend as well.
But I know she is still with us, looking down on us, only a heart beat
away and by our sides until "we all meet again", and we're still proud of
her.
CRY is a fantastic
organisation and we are proud to belong to the charity. Sarah would
be too.
