A mother of three from Stoke-on-Trent died suddenly at her home, despite desperate attempts by her son and a neighbour to save her. Sophie Whitehurst, 33, passed away at her residence in Meir on Saturday, August 1, at approximately 1pm. The official cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
Tragedy unfolds at home
Sophie leaves behind her 16-year-old daughter Allie-May, 15-year-old son Connor, and baby Harper. Neighbour Sophia Berrow, 20, witnessed the events and assisted with resuscitation efforts. She told Stoke on Trent Live: "I live with my boyfriend and his family, who have lived next door to Sophie for 13 years. We're all really close. Everyone on the street loved Sophie. She was the life of the party! She was so beautiful, bubbly, and friendly and she always put her kids first. You couldn't picture Sophie without thinking of her kids."
Sophie had epilepsy and suffered from seizures, especially when tired. Her dog was trained to alert the family when she had a seizure. Recently, she had been doing well and having fewer seizures. When they occurred, she would recover quickly. Tragically, her condition proved fatal.
Son's brave efforts
On the day of her death, Sophie had been up all night with the baby and decided to nap. She planned to watch the Stoke City game with her son later. She slept with the bedroom window open, and a breeze shut the door, leaving her dog outside. Everyone assumed she was asleep until Connor went upstairs and found her not breathing. He began CPR immediately while Allie-May sought help.
Sophia, trained in CPR as a veterinary nurse student, rushed over. She said: "Because my bedroom window was also open, I could hear everything that was going on. I'm training to be a veterinary nurse, so I'm qualified in human and animal CPR. I went across straight away to help. I went into the house and up to Sophie's room. I took Sophie off the bed to continue doing CPR on the floor. But it was clear to me straight away that something was seriously wrong. I performed CPR for 18 minutes until the paramedics arrived and took over. They carried on for 30 minutes before they told everyone the awful news."
Outpouring of support
The news devastated Sophie's children. Sophia recalled: "Everything went by in a total blur. Part of me knew she wasn't going to make it, but I was hoping for a miracle. Hearing she'd passed away was absolutely awful. It still doesn't feel real. Sophie's kids were in the living room when the news was delivered. I had gone back next door with my mum. When we were told the immediate family had been asked to wait, I knew it was bad news. Then I heard them all screaming and breaking down. I've never heard something so awful. I broke down too."
Sophia launched an online fundraiser to give Sophie a proper funeral and support the children. She said: "I set up the fundraiser so we can give Sophie a really, really good funeral. My biggest worry after the news had sunk in was that her children wouldn't get to give her a good send-off. Nobody wants a council funeral to be the last memory of their mum. They deserve to say goodbye properly. Any money that is left over will go to the kids too. I know that Sophie's biggest concern would be what would happen to the kids. So our priority has to be supporting them and making sure they're looked after. That's what this is all about."
The appeal has received widespread support, which has helped the children. Sophia added: "Phatlads have shared the appeal already, which has really helped with the progress. There's been a massive outpouring of support for the children. I think it has helped to cheer them up a little bit. They're still absolutely distraught, but having that support is definitely helping."
