Sophie Elliott’s mum’s sad illness
In the years following Sophie Elliott’s death her parents spoke passionately about domestic violence.
Her mother Lesley was in the family’s Dunedin house in 2009 when Sophie’s enraged boyfriend, Clayton Weatherston, stabbed her 216 times. She later founded the Sophie Elliott Foundation in a bid to teach young people about abusive relationships.
She travelled around the country for years pushing the LovesMe-Not programme — which aims to equip young people with the skills to identify early warning signs so they can avoid becoming involved in abusive relationships.
However, a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and declining health saw Lesley shut down the foundation last month and pass the programme on to police to continue running.
cFoundation trustee Bill O’Brien said what Lesley saw of her daughter’s death was “catching up now”.
“If [the illness] wasn’t brought on by what she witnessed it’s certainly been exacerbated by it.”
He said despite her failing health, she was buoyed by the knowledge that her daughter was remembered and her work had helped others.
“We get heaps of emails and letters from people who have said they did the Loves-Me-Not programme at school or heard Lesley speak and say she influenced them and their thinking. We’ve have people say ‘you actually saved my life’.
“Lesley looks at that and thinks that’s great — this is Sophie’s legacy, what we did in Sophie’s name has made a real difference. It’s incredible really, all that effort was worthwhile. But now it’s time for Lesley to rest — she achieved what she wanted to achieve and it’s time for her to sit back and rest up a bit and let others carry on.” Despite her illness, Lesley still spoke of Sophie every day.