Girl, 11, died after collapsing on playground during second day back at school

21 March 2023 , 19:52

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Neve Parlett collapsed at school and died the next day in hospital (Image: GoFundMe)

The heartbroken parents of a “bright and vivacious” girl who collapsed at school and later died have paid a sweet tribute to their daughter, amid plans to raise money in her memory.

Neve, 11, collapsed at Dicot Girls School in Oxfordshire in March 2021 and her mum and dad were later told she had an inoperable brain aneurysm.

She was placed in a coma but passed away the next day.

Her day at school had been just her second since Christmas because of the pandemic.

Now, two years on from the shocking day, her parents have revealed they still go in her old room which they had recaptured the week after her death and talk to her “every day”.

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Mum Mary Parlett told the Oxford Mail: “We keep the door open and every day we go in to speak to her.

Neve loved singing, reading and her dogs (GoFundMe)

“Neve had chosen the carpet in her room, and she was really excited. Her room was exactly how she wanted it. She’d asked for certain furniture. She was getting out of her little girl stage.

“When you have something this traumatic happen to you, you feel like you are almost living in a bubble and the concept of time completely changes - I can’t comprehend it’s been two years and that we’ve survived two years.”

Meanwhile a friend of the family, Vicky Lay, is planning on running the London Marathon later this year in their honour.

She wrote on her JustGiving page: “Neve collapsed at school and never regained consciousness. She was a bright, vivacious, beautiful 11 year old girl who loved singing, books and her dogs (fur babies), but most of all her family and friends. She was loved beyond words and is missed immeasurably by so many.

We will be raising money for Helen & Douglas House (HDH) in Oxford who cared for Neve and her family in the weeks after she passed, providing the unique support and comfort that they needed at such a devastating time and in the years since.

“It is unfathomable to imagine losing a child or sister at a young age, nor what could make things any more bearable. But HDH and their amazing staff have been supporting families like Neve’s and children with long-term illness since 1982. They were the first children's hospice in the world.

“We will be running 26.2miles - it may be pouring with rain, scorching hot or blowing a gale, who knows what the day will bring.

“We have months of laborious training ahead, with aches, pains, stitches and lost toenails expected.

“But, it will all be worth it if we can raise lots of funds for HDH in the name of our beautiful angels Neve and Bego.”

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