True angel helped so many in spite of her own turmoil

A WEEK before Corinne died she rang me — as she often did — for a chat. I was going out that night and told her I’d call her back. ‘Have a good night Aunty Nene,’ she told me. ‘Don’t forget to ring me back with all the gossip.’

Those cheerful words were the last she ever said to me. A few days later, my beloved niece drove to Kynance Cove near her home in Cornwall, and jumped from the cliff, an act that has devastated her many loved ones. She leaves behind husband Mike, and two sons Flinn, 11, and Lewi, eight — they were the apples of her eye.

Corinne revelled in motherhood, was an accomplished businesswoman, and her family and friends adored her. Yet we are all having to accept that underneath her happy-go-lucky exterior she was battling demons.

The death of her father, when she was 17, hit her hard. As a little girl she was happy and mischievous. I used to dread her coming over as she and her older sister Lisa would treat my bed like a trampoline and have pillow fights.

Of course, Corinne only had to look at me with her big eyes and say ‘Sorry Aunty Nene’ and all was forgiven.

Her job as Cabin Crew with British Airways took her all over the world, and she and Mike ran a lettings business and an entertainment agency.

Corinne set up a help group called Up, in her home town Windsor, for people who suffered with anxiety and postnatal depression as she had done after Flinn was born. She also worked for Street Angels, a voluntary organisation which patrols the streets of Windsor helping the vulnerable. And she was training to be a therapeutic counsellor.

When she and her family relocated to Cornwall, Corinne had problems settling. None of us could have guessed how much she was struggling, and it breaks our hearts that none of us could help. If love alone could have saved Corinne, she would still be with us. Rest in peace, my darling niece. Corinne Leatherbarrow, born June 28, 1969, died october 9 2017, aged 48.