Olivia Raby

I was lead into a private room and a nurse explained to me that Olivia had collapsed at school whilst playing a routine game of rounders. She asked if I would like to go into the room where all the staff were trying to save Olivia’s life - it was only afterwards that I knew they were doing that for me and her dad’s sake, as now I know they already knew we had lost our princess.

One of the worst things I have ever had to do in my life was to leave my baby Olivia at the hospital and go to the house that had once been our home. When we arrived home we went upstairs to her room and it was perfect just as she had left it, she loved her room and was a perfectionist.

Her room is still the same - we vacuum and polish it weekly and keep it just as Olivia did, perfect. It is and always will be Olivia’s room; I think that by doing this, is the only way we can cope and get through the days, it’s just crazy that we will never ever see her again.

Olivia had so much to live for. She loved going to town shopping, she was really into fashion or going to the cinema, having sleepovers -  basically all the typical things that teenage girls do. The phone never stopped ringing and she was forever on the computer talking to her friends on MSN.

Olivia loved school, she always had, from playgroup to primary school, and then through to high school. At parents evening all the teachers always said that she was a model student and a pleasure to teach.

Liv was in year 9 and had just finished her SATS and had spent a lot of time choosing her options which she had put a lot of thought into - just like she did with everything she undertook. I know people say it all the time, "my child’s this" and "my child’s that", but hand on heart I can honestly say that my Olivia was such a loving, happy cheerful child that everyone loved.

We received lots of support from everyone; we were hurting and I knew that Olivia’s friends - some of whom had witnessed what happened - had also lost a very dear friend. The next few days just seemed to pass by in a blur; I think we were on autopilot.

The children from school placed lots of flowers, school ties, ribbons, cards and loads of messages around a tree that was in the centre of the school, there was a message book that turned into books and then folders as there was that many, for people to write their memories of Olivia in.

There were many websites set up for people to light candles and leave messages - it was clear that she was loved by so many people.

On the day of Olivia’s funeral I just wanted to make her as proud of me as I was of her. I wanted everything to be perfect. We had a service in church which was so full that people had to pray in the car park.

I was, and I am, so proud of Olivia and hearing all the readings and stories from her friends and just to see how many people loved her and really knew her, we asked all her friends to wear their own clothes but to wear something pink as it was Liv’s favourite colour, even the boys wore pink t-shirts and pearls on their wrists.

After the funeral, members of our family and friends of Olivia’s released 14 pink balloons, 1 for each year of her life. We all wrote a message and attached it to the balloons which we let go at the cemetery so they could make their way to heaven for Olivia to read.

After the funeral and the mass in school, the children wanted to have a lasting memorial that was fitting to Olivia. It was decided that a wrought iron tree with items that meant something to Olivia and what Olivia meant to us, was a fitting tribute. However, we were quoted around £6,000 - I thought we might as well give up there and then. But no, her friends had other ideas.