https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-newTragedy as mum finds daughter, 11, dead in bed after heartbreaking final words
Kayleigh Owens said her child Milly-Sue Pendleton loved to draw and dress up as her favourite anime characters. She paid tribute to the 'caring and unique' girl who sadly died last month
By Rebecca Koncienzcy & Chiara Fiorillo
14:35, 6 JUL 2021Updated16:06, 6 JUL 2021
A mum who found her 11-year-old daughter dead in bed has spoken of their heartbreaking final conversation. Kayleigh Owens said her child Milly-Sue Pendleton loved to draw and dress up as her favourite anime characters. The girl from Wallasey, Wirral, was described as "caring and unique" by her mum. Kayleigh told the Liverpool Echo that the last thing her daughter told her before dying was: "I love you."
The tragedy happened the night between June 13 and June 14, after the mum put son Dante, five, who shared a room with Milly-Sue, to bed. At around 10.30pm, Kayleigh asked Milly-Sue to give her the phone as she had to sleep ahead of her school day the following morning. At 10.45pm, Milly-Sue left the room to get a drink and briefly played with their dog Lagertha. She told her mum "good night" and that she loved her before returning to bed.
Whe Kayleigh got up in the morning, she thought it was a little cold so she went to Milly-Sue's room to close the window and wake her up for school. At that point, she saw the girl was not moving so she started shouting her name before her partner called an ambulance. She said: "Her bed is under the window so I stepped over her and then I saw her back wasn't moving and I was started shouting her name. My partner Robert Lowe rang an ambulance and started doing CPR, my son Cameron heard what was going on and rushed in and grabbed Dante and covered his eyes before taking him out of the room. The paramedics told us even with the CPR it was too late. I don't remember anything after that."
Talking about her daughter, the 36-year-old mum said: "It was my birthday on Saturday, June 12 and she had sent me a message because she was at her dad's, Andrew Pendleton, and then she came home on the Sunday. It was really nice because she was so happy, she had had a great weekend and she wanted to go for a milkshake and asked me to come with her. She was so fearless, she would go out around the shops in all her cosplay outfits and she would wear these huge big black boots no matter what the weather she was like an emo, but I have always dressed a bit like that with band t-shirts and dyed hair, so she got that from me. I remember asking her about my Slipknot t-shirt, because she was always taking my t-shirts. And she was so funny, she said to me 'well, I wouldn't have to take your t-shirts if I had my own'. So we made plans to buy her some for her next birthday."
Kayleigh said the family have to wait for answers over Milly-Sue's death until the coroner's report in September but said there will be no closure for her. She said: "I don't think it has sunk in yet. I remember seeing her in her coffin and her make up was done just the way she used to do it she was better than me at make up, she would have a little pink nose and eyeliner. But it just looked like she was sleeping, she looked just like my Milly-Sue, it made it so hard for me to accept that it was real."
Kayleigh said she has found it hard to go back into her daughter's room, she said: "I haven't put Dante back in his room yet because I have just found it so hard to face. I went in the other day to just give it a tidy and it was all just typical 11-year-old stuff, like a Babybel in the pillowcase and drawings under the bed. Dante always asks for her, Cameron stays at his dad's a bit longer on Sundays because it is the hardest part of the week when she doesn't come home. I keep expecting her to walk through the door after coming home from school. Rob has been amazing, he has helped me so much because when I have my low moments, well you can just be quite mean, but he knows and tells me to just do what I need to do."
Kayleigh said the whole family has pulled together, she said: "Andrew, Milly-Sue's dad, and I have always been on good terms and his wife, Helen has always been amazing with the kids."
Kayleigh who also Milly-Sue has sons Cameron, 15, and Carter, 13 said she has been overwhelmed by the love and support shown by people some of whom she has never met. She said: "People have raised money for us and it has been such a massive help, because yes, children's funerals are free, but if you want certain things for your child it can be so expensive. We wanted the anime princess coffin for Milly-Sue with a blue dress, which was just perfect for her it is the last thing you are going to be able to really do for your child so you want it to be perfect. A neighbour did her flowers after hearing about it and she would not take any payment, people have been so wonderful."
Kayleigh had asked people to make donations to Alder Hey in Milly-Sue's name, she added: "That is where they took Milly-Sue and I was so worried about her being on her own, but the people there were wonderful. A man called Ian would always tell us she had had a good night and was in her pyjamas it was like he knew her, so I didn't feel like she was alone. And the people at Mill Bank Funeral Home on Mill Lane were incredible, they would always make time for us to go and see her."
Kayleigh added: "I am just so glad Milly-Sue was able to be who she was before she went out of this world because there is so much pressure on young people from social media to be a certain way. But Milly-Sue was just who she was, she had been so excited to start secondary school at Oldershaw in September because she said there would be more girls who dressed like her. "I would always tell her that it was OK to be different, often people want to be different but just feel the pressure not to be. Milly-Sue was just who she was in her own ways and I am so grateful she got to do that."
