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Life without Mum

Jessica Beckett
9/ 4/2008

A HEARTBROKEN dad has spoken of how his family is trying to come to terms with the death of mum-of-six Kimberley Hartley.

Andrew Palmer said a tearful farewell to the 26-year-old – who was pregnant with their unborn child – at Oldham Crematorium on Monday, and immediately started thinking about a memory book so that her surviving children will have plenty to remember her by.

"She loved all of the kids to bits and I want them to remember how special their mum was," he said this week.

Kimberley died suddenly on March 29, after suffering a brain haemorrhage earlier that week.

Pregnant with her seventh child, she leaves daughter Temby (11) and five sons, Andrew (7), Myles (4), Adam (3), Joshua (2) and Toby (7 months).

Andrew will now be the full-time parent to the couple’s five sons, while Temby – from a previous relationship of Kimberley’s – will live with her gran.

The 29-year-old said: "The children have coped very well so far and the family have really pulled together to help out.

"Kimberley and I were together for eight years and loved each other very much; we were best friends as well as partners. She will be really missed by everyone."

Kimberley, an ex-Breeze Hill School pupil, was discovered unconscious by Andrew at the family home in Timperley Close, Fitton Hill.

He explained: "I had been out with my eldest sons, Andrew and Myles, and when I returned home there was no sign of Kim.

"I could hear the other children crying so I climbed through a window and found her unconscious upstairs.

"The kids had tried to help – Adam had even climbed up to the fridge and taken a bottle of Calpol upstairs – but there was nothing we could do."

Andrew added: "Before Kimberley died we were planning to move house, and I hope I can complete that – this house now holds upsetting memories for the children."

The grieving parent hopes that the children will soon be ready to return to school, with the three eldest attending St Martin’s Primary, Fitton Hill.

Kimberley’s daughter Temby said: "My mum liked everyone. No matter what they looked like or who they were.

"She loved reading, and having a chat with her friends over a cup of tea. She was always smiling."

Kimberley’s mum, Tracey Cozeli, added: "Although Kim had lots of friends, she wasn’t interested in going out, she just lived for her children.

"If Kim was celebrating her birthday, she would do it with all the kids – they meant everything to her.

"I know everyone says nice things about their loved ones when they die, but Kim really was a beautiful person. It is such a tragedy."

The family now plan to plant a tree in the borough in memory of Kimberley.