A mother of four was found dead next to her three-year-old daughter after she failed to pick her older children up from school.
Nicole Barnes, 29, was discovered dead on a couch in her house in Liverpool after teachers called her partner, Craig Sharnock, 36, to ask why she was not there.
Her little girl Delilah, 3, was fine but now faces life without her mother, alongside siblings Niamh, 10, Scott, 7, and Tom, 5.
Nicole’s cause of death is unknown.
Nicole’s cousin Kim Jowett, 36, said she is being remembered as an “absolutely amazing mum”.
Kim told the Liverpool ECHO: “She picked up Delilah at 11.30am from nursery and was expected to pick her other children up later.
“She just passed away on the couch. She was an absolutely gorgeous young girl. She didn’t have a bad bone in her body.”
“She was an absolutely amazing mum and she did everything with such grace. She was a better mum than I ever could be.”
“She had loads of issues with getting her five-year-old into help and into school because of his autism but she didn’t stop.”
“She fought and fought until he got everything he ever needed.”
Kim said everyone was devastated by what happened, adding: “She was such a gorgeous soul. No one in the world could ever say a bad word about her.”
“One of her friends, Gemma, tried to do CPR. The medics did everything they could.
“This is going to be so hard for Craig. It is so sad she has lost her life and left her four poor babies behind. She was one in million.
“She left such an amazing impression on everyone’s hearts and her children will never forget that.”
“Niamh has took on a mums’ role and is trying to be like her mum and help to take care of everyone but she shouldn’t be doing that. This is just how she saw her mum, as someone who looked after everyone.”
Kim has organized a GoFundMe to help support the family, which has already surpassed the original goal of £20,000.
From the GoFundMe:
Hi, my name is Kim. I’m hoping to raise some money for my beautiful cousins children who have sadly just lost their mummy. My gorgeous cousin Nicole who was only 29 fell asleep on Monday leaving behind her 4 children, one with severe special needs and her partner Craig. Nicole was the most amazing mummy and her kids loved her so much. She was a kind, loving beautiful person who just wanted the best for her kids. Im just hoping we can raise a bit of money, how ever big or small to be able to ease the financial burden off Craig and the family, who are having to take time off work to look after the children at this difficult time. Thank you for helping if you can ❤️
