Olympic swimmer found dead in bed by daughter, 4, who said 'mummy won't wake up'
A Team GB Olympian swimmer was found dead by her four-year-old daughter who heartbreakingly said “mummy won’t wake up”.
Helen Smart, the 42-year-old Olympian athlete who traded the swimming pool for a classroom, died “suddenly” over the weekend.
The former athlete swam for Team GB at the 2000 Olympics and claimed a bronze medal at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games. After retiring, Smart went on to become head of Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School.
But now the heartbreaking details of when Helen's loved ones realised the “beloved” headteacher had passed away have been revealed. The family had been at a cottage on the banks of Lake Coniston, with Helen enjoying some time spent paddle boarding at dusk on Friday night, just hours before she died.
The Olympian swimmer was working as a headteacher (TWITTER)Speaking to The Mail, Helen’s mum Linda said that her granddaughter Heidi had tried to climb into bed with her parents. It was then when she told her dad “mummy won’t wake up”.
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He was reported as saying: ''Oh she must be very tired Heidi - you go back to bed.” It was then he turned the torch on and realised what had happened.
Linda continued: “We are just in so much shock. You jump from believing it to not believing it. She had been paddle boarding a few hours before and had never even been ill apart from her knees swelling from swimming. We're distraught. They don't know what it is but they think it must have happened shortly after she went to bed. She just died in her sleep.”
Just before she went to bed, Helen spoke to her mum for what would tragically be their last conversation. In it the headteacher told her mum she needed to grab some sleep before Heidi woke her up later.
Just hours later, Robert, Helen's husband, woke them telling them she had died. They rushed into her room where she was “cold”. The family instantly knew the mum had died. Dad John Don-Duncan described how Helen was their “pride and joy” and the family couldn’t comprehend the sudden death.
The mum was spending time with loved ones in Cumbria when she suddenly died (TWITTER)
The former athlete swam for Team GB at the 2000 Olympics (TWITTER)"Helen was our pride and joy...we are so proud of her...she lit up a room as soon as she arrived," her father John Don-Duncan wrote on Facebook. "Linda and I can't comprehend how she could just simply go to sleep and not wake up?!"
British Swimming has also shared a number of tributes to the Olympian. Former teammates Sarah Ruckwood and Rachael Ashcroft are among those to have shared their memories of Smart. Ruckwood said: "I remember Helen most though as someone who would always brighten a room when she walked in it and her infectious laugh would bring a smile to everyone.
"It is no surprise that she went on from swimming to become a primary school headteacher working with and inspiring all around her. I am so sorry that life after swimming meant we did not manage to see each other over the years due to distance and other life pressures. [She] did always and will always have a very special place in my heart, as the most amazing person."
Helen's death was confirmed by Alison Halliwell, the chair of governors at the school she worked at. In a statement she said: "It is with great sadness and regret that I have to announce the sudden death of our beloved Headteacher, Mrs Helen Smart. Our heart-felt condolences are sent to Helen’s family at this very difficult time.
"I know this news will be a shock and cause great sadness to our community. I want to reassure you that the Governors of Worsley Mesnes School are working with the local authority and school to ensure that our children, staff and parents will receive the necessary support in the coming weeks. Further information/updates will be issued as and when they are available."
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