‘OUR BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL HAS BEEN CRUELLY TAKEN FROM US’
A mother’s heartbreaking tribute to daughter Josie who died suddenly aged just five
AMOTHER who tragically lost her five-year-old daughter after she suffered a cardiac arrest says she is “heartbroken beyond words”.
Little Josie Hunt woke up unwell on Monday and died later that day.
Her mum Elise Hunt, who lives in Treorchy, Rhondda, said she was a “beautifully bubbly little girl” who “loved a selfie”.
Josie was a pupil at Treorchy Primary School where, her mum said, she was “coming on leaps and bounds”.
Elise said: “Josie was a bright, funny, beautifully bubbly little girl. She loved her swimming, and loved her horse riding lessons. She also loved her dance lessons with Tip Tops Dance School, whose support has been amazing.
“She loved to help people. She always wanted to help her gran and daddy with cooking and tidying.
“She adored her little brother Evan.
“She was so creative – she’d colour all day every day if I let her. Josie loved to make cards for everyone. Her favourite colour was pink.
“Josie was loving and kind and my absolute mini-me. We’d paint our nails together and she loved having her hair done. Josie also loved a selfie.”
Elise said that Josie woke up at 4am on November 28 feeling sick. At first she thought it was just a stomach bug.
“She slowly got whiter and was clearly not well,” Elise said. “I put her in the car with my gran and drove to the hospital but she had a cardiac arrest on the way. They tried to save her but she passed at around 2pm with her family around her.”
Paying tribute to her daughter on Facebook, Elise wrote: “I am heartbroken beyond words. My world has been shattered. I don’t know where we go from here.
“Our beautiful little girl has been cruelly taken away from us. I can only be grateful that we had a wonderful five years with her, and she’ll live on through her lovely little brother Evan, our only ray of light right now.”
Family and friends have rallied around Elise, her husband Daniel and three-year-old son Evan.
Friend Annaleise Burrows, who used to work as the family’s nanny, started a fundraising campaign to help the family with funeral costs.
The online JustGiving page has almost raised the target of £8,000. Annaleise said: “I would love to raise more money for the family so they can have some financial support for if they need time off work or a little holiday for Josie’s little brother Evan.”
Elise said she was “overwhelmed” by the generosity of those who had donated to Josie’s funeral.
She added: “The response of the community had been overwhelming. I can’t believe how many people have sent messages of support and the response to the JustGiving page has been astounding.
“Treorchy Primary school and Tip Tops Dance school have been amazing with their support.
“It’s been a comfort to know how many lives Josie touched.”
■ The fundraising page can be found here: www.justgiving.com/ c rowd fund in g / Helpthehuntfamily