Many people will know Michelle Martin: she was my partner of the last 9 years, daughter to Glynis, mum to Leah and Dale and grandma to Ty, Tia and Dakota. Things have been pretty tough over the last few years. Michelle suffered from many ailments, including idiopathic Intercranial hypertension. Her health deteriorated over time, with the result that I became (25th April) her full time carer about 5 years ago.

After a visit to hospital Michelle became very ill with covid19 and on Wednesday she was admitted to hospital again. It was apparent that she was very, very poorly, and a few hours later we received the news that we needed to say our goodbyes. It’s pretty traumatic saying goodbye to someone you love by FaceTime. Not being with them, or hold their hand - it’s just too awful to accept.

Michelle died in the early hours of this morning. She was 48 years old. Our hearts are breaking and our grief is overwhelming.

Despite her illnesses, Michelle tried to stay positive, even though recent years were full of pain. She became heavily involved in the anti fracking protests and made many new friends. Eventually it became too much for her, and the last 18 months became about survival.

We will now need to learn how to live without this larger than life woman, a woman who loved us and animals with all her heart.

Her son and I now need to isolate as it’s highly likely that we will have been exposed to cv19. We will soon be homeless and we will need to work out how we can pay for a funeral. It’s very hard to set money aside when no-one is able to work due to circumstances completely beyond our control.

If you can spare something, anything that will help us pay for Michelle’s funeral, and cover some of our immediate bills we would be eternally grateful. I hope to return to work as a bus driver as soon as I am out of isolation.

Thank you for your kind wishes and support,