Help Agnes lay Audrey to rest

My name is Mary-Ellen. It is with a heavy heart that I have created this GoFundMe. My sister Agnes woke up on Friday, November 4th to every parents worst nightmare. Agnes went in to wake her daughter, 14 year old Audrey for school, because she thought she was “sleeping in” like is so typical of teens. Instead she was immediately in shock, knowing that it was far too late to try to save Audrey. Audrey had passed away in her bed sometime overnight.

My niece Audrey has a special place in my heart. I was there when Agnes was in labour with Audrey and they lived with me when she was first born. I have watched her grow into a beautiful young woman and we are now robbed of a future of more firsts and accomplishments.

I went over as soon as I found out and stayed there with Agnes and the others. When the police and coroner finished, we said goodbye to Audrey as she was taken away. It is surreal. It’s like a bad dream.

Audrey was planning for her future. She was scheduling plans, thinking about what she was going to do the next day, week, month, year. Just the evening before, Agnes and Audrey had talked about some tough stuff and made plans to talk again the next day. This was a shocking and tragic accidental death.

Audrey was a firecracker. She was fiercely independent but also loved to cuddle up with Agnes, Annika, and Bruno, watching movies as a family. She was finding her way and reconnecting with herself.

Agnes remains strong for her other children. Audrey’s sister and brother need to learn to navigate a world without “Ri” as Bruno called her. Annika is 12 and Bruno is 2. Bruno is waking up every day and looking for Ri. It’s a small comfort that he doesn’t know what’s happened. Annika is so sad and there’s a lot of hugging happening right now.

Agnes now has to start planning for Audrey’s service which is not something any parent should have to do. I’ve created this GoFundMe to help with final expenses. Donations will go directly to associated costs. I don’t know what the arrangements will be yet, everyone is still in shock and we have to wait until the coroner’s service contacts Agnes to figure out what happens next. I will be helping her in any way that I can and managing this fundraiser so that she doesn’t have to. She has given me permission to start this GoFundMe and approved of the message you just read but from here on out, it will be just me so that she can take the time she needs to heal and not think about extra things any more than necessary. I will share details and updates as she permits and you can contact me directly if you have specific questions or want to help in some other way.

Thank you for reading this far. Please donate if you can and share this fundraiser so that we can spend the next few weeks planning a send off for Audrey with a little less stress about the funding to do so.