Tributes have poured in for an "amazing" mum and a "lovely" dad who tragically died within weeks of each other - leaving their 10-year-old son behind.
Jill Skivington, 46, and her partner of 15 years Gary Armstrong, 49, also leave behind their two adult daughters and two adult sons after dying suddenly this month. And the pair have been remembered by friends and family for their dedication to their children and to each other.
Jill lost her life on Thursday, May 12, after suffering a heart attack and a catastrophic stroke just four weeks after her partner, Gary, passed away from a cardiac arrest. Caught up in their sudden tragic deaths are 10-year-old son, Alfie, who has autism, as well as Jill's daughters Katy, 21, and Ellie, 22, who saw Gary as their father, and Gary's two twin sons from a previous relationships, Tom and Dean, 23.
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Speaking to ChronicleLive, Jill's brother Andrew, 42, said: "It's really bad luck, it's horrendous. We'll try to be there as much as we can but we can never be a mother. Gary was good fun and he was always there for them. If you take one parent out you can cope and help fill that hole - but when you take both out it's a really big hole you have got to fill. It's just very sad."
Concerns were raised for Gary, from Wallsend near Newcastle upon Tyne, after he didn't show up to his job as a shutter engineer on April 13. When Jill's brother Andrew and her daughter Katy went to check on him at home, they found he had died on the sofa while watching TV.
Andrew said: "He had been to Jill's, watched telly and then he went home. The next day he didn't turn up at work. Me and Katy went down, we had to break in, and he was dead on the settee. Jill was inconsolable, she was devastated."
A few weeks later, on May 1, Katy and Ellie were spending the weekend with their mum when she fell ill. She had suffered two blood clots - one in her heart and one in her brain - which caused a heart attack and catastrophic stroke, as well as swelling in her brain.
Despite the best efforts of the medical staff at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, Newcastle Freeman Hospital, and the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Jill died on May 12.
"She was so unlucky. She had one blood clot in her heart and one in the brain at the same time," Andrew explained. "The doctor had to make a decision about which one was more important. The heart came first, they put a stent in to see how that went and they had to do an operation after that to relieve the pressure on her brain.
"The doctors prepared us from pretty early on that they didn't think she would get better. My mam was really strong through it, she was great and kept us all together. She's a rock."
Gary's funeral was held at Tynemouth Crematorium on May 11, while Jill was still in the hospital.
Paying tribute to his brother-in-law, Andrew said: "Gary was a lovely bloke and he had a lot of friends. Everyone got on with Gary, he's never had an enemy.
"[Jill] was an amazing sister, daughter, mother and girlfriend. We have all lost something that we can't replace," he added. "There's always going to be a hole there, we have got to try and remember her and make sure all the kids aren't left needing anything. She was a great mam, she had three great kids and they are all going to miss her a lot."
A GoFundMe page was set up to raise funds for the family to support Alfie's care. It explains that guardianship can take up to a year to go through, meaning they will receive no financial assistance until it's sorted.
The fundraiser speaks of the impact it has had on Jill and Gary's children, saying that Alfie is struggling to cope with the impact of losing his dad, never mind his mum.
The page, set up by Alfie's niece, Donna, reads: "We're all in such shock, non of this seems real. I can't even begin to explain how this is affecting the kids.
"Jill and Gary absolutely adored their kids, and Jill did everything for them. Alfie is only 10 and has autism, he needs care for the rest of his life. His nana and sister are currently caring for him, he hasn't come to terms about his dad yet, so we really don't know how he's going to process all of this about his mam.
"I'm fundraising for him, and the girls, but mainly Alfie, to get him some money put aside for his care now and when he gets older. Also, we've been looking into guardianship for his nana and sister and it can take up to a year to achieve this, in this time they won't get any financial assistance at all, which is an absolute nightmare on top of everything else as his nana is a pensioner, not on much. Although we're all trying to pull together, everything is really tough.
"Whatever is raised will go towards creating a sensory room/bedroom at his nanas, funeral costs, trips out with his sisters (he loves the cinema!) with anything else going towards his care for the rest of his life, so he, his nana and sisters, don't have to face that burden too. Anything donated is really appreciated, even if its just £1, anything will help them right now."
If you would like to donate, you can do so here.
