A teenage girl with epilepsy from Accrington tragically died in her sleep 48 hours after Christmas Day.
Four years ago Maisie-Jade Thornton was diagnosed with the condition after suffering from “quite a few” seizures. Kelly Hodgson, Maisie-Jade’s aunt, said the 14-year-old was pretty healthy prior to the diagnosis. However, she began to have a number of seizures that were “all quite bad.”
After celebrating Christmas with her family in Accrington, Maisie-Jade joined up with her dad, Stewart Thornton and her step-mother Mel Stott.
Kelly told LancsLive: “They had like 13 or 14 family members over for Christmas Day, my brother and his girlfriend Mel.”
The aunt went on: “She really enjoyed herself, she had a really good Christmas Day. I’ve got a picture of her smiling. She was happy with all her presents, she got all sorts.”
Two days later tragedy struck. Maisie-Jade stayed over at her mum Rhiannon’s house and was found to have passed away in the night.
Kelly said: “She had just gone to sleep as normal. Her mum found her in the morning when she went down.” Maisie-Jade’s aunt believes her niece may have had a seizure in her sleep.
The young girl was “very well loved” and a “very very popular students”, said her aunt.
She added: “She was just so nice and caring and she would do anything for anyone. She was always smiling, always. We called her ‘Moo’ as well, the whole family called her Maisie Moo. It’s just broken us as a family. I mean it’s brought us together even more, but it’s just broken us. We don’t know what to do with ourselves.”
Tributes have flooded in following the awful passing, including from her dad Stewart. He spoke of how “loved” and “how sweet” his little girl was. He added that “we will always love and miss her.”
Kelly works the NHS and is reluctant to return to her job, knowing that her niece’s body is still in the hospital.
The devastated relative has created a Go Fund Me page for donations towards Maisie-Jade’s funeral, which at the time of writing has raised more than £6,000.
She said: “It’s amazing. We’re just so overwhelmed at people’s generosity and support. We’re a big family anyway, but I’m just overwhelmed by how much it’s been shared.”
Although no date has yet been set for the teenager’s funeral, those attending will be wearing purple in a nod to Maisie-Jade’s favourite colour.
