A heartbroken mum has said she's been left with 'nothing' after losing her son and daughter on almost the same day six years apart.
Mum Julia Pearson lost her only son Mark after he suffered a stroke while celebrating a Birmingham City goal against Huddersfield Town on 29 April 2017.
Mark, who was just 35 at the time, was rushed to Heartlands Hospital but sadly could not be saved, and he passed away the following day.
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Julia's said her daughter, Claire, was her 'rock' in the years after Mark died, but tragedy struck the family for a second time when Claire too passed away at just 34 years old.
Claire died suddenly on 29 April in Acocks Green, Birmingham, almost six years to the day after losing her brother.
Julia believes long Covid may have contributed to Julia's death after she caught the virus during lockdown.
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"She had major fatigue all the time," the mother said.
"Claire struggled to get GP appointments and hardly got any support - it was awful. She was referred to a clinic but didn't have any X-rays or scans. She had all these different allergies and kept getting shingles."
Claire carried on working while struggling with her health, but on the night she died her mum said she had been 'really fatigued'.
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"My friend was over and Claire would normally come down to say bye but she didn't," explained Julia. "I went upstairs to wake her up but that's when I found her unresponsive."
Claire's official cause of death was not immediately confirmed, but Julie has tried to find comfort in the knowledge that she was with her daughter in her final moments.
The mum said: "I sold my house back in July and I was due to move on 31 March but the sale fell through.
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"Everyone kept telling me there's a reason that happened and I'm glad it did now because I was moving far away and it would have taken me four hours to get back to Birmingham to see Claire. I would've been isolated."
Julie, who described her daughter as 'vibrant', has been getting lots of 'loving' messages from her daughter's friends in the wake of her death, but she still cannot 'fathom' having lost both of her children.
"I only had two children...now I've got none. I've got nothing," she said.
"I'm heartbroken.”
Emily Brown