. “As a family, we knew this heart-breaking news would come one day. The
news that Leah had been taken from us, from this world, forever. We are
devastated that we have proven to be correct in this. “The faint glimmer of
hope that we all held allowed us to fool ourselves into believing that our
assumption could have been wrong. The deepest, darkest grief that we,
Leah’s family and friends are experiencing over the past weeks shows us
that glimmer was actually, foolishly, a shining beacon of hope, which has
now been brutally extinguished in the cruellest and harshest of ways. It
has been a long way to fall back to reality. “Leah had so much to achieve
in her life, milestones that will now never be met. Family holidays,
marriage, children, promotion, having her own home. So many ‘could have
beens’… “The void left in our lives after Leah’s disappearance was immense,
a pain almost too big to bear. However, there is little that compares to
the deep chasm Leah’s death has brought to us. “Leah was a bright, funny
young woman who was a kind, loyal, helpful and caring soul. Her smile lit
up the room and her laugh cheered all who heard it. Leah had a wonderful
sense of humour, who found joy in everything she did. “Leah was a second
Dan black belt, a national and European champion in the world of Taekwondo.
She enjoyed coaching the next generation of champions at the family club
she ran with her dad. “Leah’s presence and warmth impacted on all who knew
her, her disappearance has impacted on an entire city and beyond. “The
world and our lives are darker for losing her in the prime of life. Solace
is found in the belief that Leah will only finally die when the last of us
who remember her dies and Leah will hopefully be remembered by a lot of
people for many years to come. “We will soon be able to lay Leah to rest,
as she deserves, and say our final goodbyes, be able to grieve at Leah’s
graveside and lay flowers for her. We have missed Leah for so long already,
and now have the rest of our lives to mourn her as well as the memories we
will never be able to make. We were able to love you for 19 wonderful
years Leah and make amazing memories together as a family, memories that we
hope will be sufficient to carry us through the dark and lonely years we
have to come. “We hope soon that we will be able to look at pictures of you
again, but they are too painful to even think about at the moment. “Give
Haydon a big kiss and a big hug from us baby, we miss and love you both so
much, but hope that you are together now, looking out for each other as
always.”
news that Leah had been taken from us, from this world, forever. We are
devastated that we have proven to be correct in this. “The faint glimmer of
hope that we all held allowed us to fool ourselves into believing that our
assumption could have been wrong. The deepest, darkest grief that we,
Leah’s family and friends are experiencing over the past weeks shows us
that glimmer was actually, foolishly, a shining beacon of hope, which has
now been brutally extinguished in the cruellest and harshest of ways. It
has been a long way to fall back to reality. “Leah had so much to achieve
in her life, milestones that will now never be met. Family holidays,
marriage, children, promotion, having her own home. So many ‘could have
beens’… “The void left in our lives after Leah’s disappearance was immense,
a pain almost too big to bear. However, there is little that compares to
the deep chasm Leah’s death has brought to us. “Leah was a bright, funny
young woman who was a kind, loyal, helpful and caring soul. Her smile lit
up the room and her laugh cheered all who heard it. Leah had a wonderful
sense of humour, who found joy in everything she did. “Leah was a second
Dan black belt, a national and European champion in the world of Taekwondo.
She enjoyed coaching the next generation of champions at the family club
she ran with her dad. “Leah’s presence and warmth impacted on all who knew
her, her disappearance has impacted on an entire city and beyond. “The
world and our lives are darker for losing her in the prime of life. Solace
is found in the belief that Leah will only finally die when the last of us
who remember her dies and Leah will hopefully be remembered by a lot of
people for many years to come. “We will soon be able to lay Leah to rest,
as she deserves, and say our final goodbyes, be able to grieve at Leah’s
graveside and lay flowers for her. We have missed Leah for so long already,
and now have the rest of our lives to mourn her as well as the memories we
will never be able to make. We were able to love you for 19 wonderful
years Leah and make amazing memories together as a family, memories that we
hope will be sufficient to carry us through the dark and lonely years we
have to come. “We hope soon that we will be able to look at pictures of you
again, but they are too painful to even think about at the moment. “Give
Haydon a big kiss and a big hug from us baby, we miss and love you both so
much, but hope that you are together now, looking out for each other as
always.”
