Family grieves 'devoted' mum, aged 32, who tragically died in her sleep leaving doctors puzzled

Stacey Frere said goodnight to her husband Ben as usual and went to sleep at her Fullers Slade home. But just an hour later, when Ben came to bed, he found her lifeless.

He told The MK Citizen: "I knew something was wrong straight away as I couldn't hear her breathing and her lips were blue. I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I was pressing her chest, trying to get her breathing. But it was too late."

Paramedics rushed to the house and tried to resuscitate Stacey. But sadly there was nothing they could do.

The couple's two children, Lottie, seven, and nine-year-old Tyler, were asleep in their bedrooms, unaware of the tragedy. Ben, 36, had the nightmare task of telling them when they woke in the morning that their mummy had died.

"I was in such shock I don't even remember what I said. I think I just told them mummy had gone to be with their grandma and grandpa, who died a while ago," said Ben.

"It was so sudden and so unexpected. Nobody can even tell us why she died.

"They miss her terribly. We all do. She was the most caring, lovely person. She never put herself first and would always be there to help others," he said.

Stacey died two weeks before Christmas and a post mortem found no problems with Stacey's heart or kidneys. The family is awaiting toxicology and tissue sample results. They have been told it could be a case of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome, which affects around 500 people in the UK every year.

Stacey, a former Radcliffe pupil, was a diabetic and had struggled with her weight over the years.

"She was a big girl. She weighted 30 stone. She had always been quite big but she put on weight after having each of the babies and couldn't lose it. She had ulcers on her legs was finding it difficult to get around and mange stairs and things," said Ben.

Days before her death, Stacey was feeling faint and dizzy. Tests showed her blood sugar was so high that it was affecting her kidneys. She was admitted to hospital for a day and night for it to be stabilised.

"Her blood sugar was still a bit high when she was discharged, but they had scanned her and tested her and said she was fine," said Ben. "She'd actually spoken to the doctor the day before she died about going on a bariatric programme to lose weight and perhaps have a gastric band fitted."

Ben has health problems himself and, unable to work, acted as Stacey's full-time carer. He is now looking after the two children full-time and is struggling to pay off the massive loans he had to take out to pay for her funeral.

"It cost £7,000. I got loans to pay for it. What else could I do? Stacey deserved a lovely funeral. We were only allowed 30 people but the whole estate would have come if they'd be able to," he said.

Relatives have set up a fundraising page to help pay off some of the funeral costs. So far they have reached £565 of the £3000 target.

You can view the page here