The mum of murdered Olivia Pratt-Korbel has penned a poignant and touching message ahead of her daughter's 10th birthday.
Tomorrow Olivia Pratt-Korbel should have been celebrating her 10th birthday with her family. Instead, in a way to remember her, her family are decorating a tree near her old home in a celebration of her life. And among the first people to use the special place will be her five-year-old twin cousins.
Around this tree they hope to build a memorial park in her name and are pleading for help to raise £300,000.
READ MORE: Olivia Pratt-Korbel's mum shares special way she will mark her 10th birthday
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror Olivia's mum Cheryl said: “It was my best friend Gemma’s idea, Gemma is the mum of Olivia’s best friend. ‘Liv’s house’ in the cemetery is just for close family and friends so that was the idea behind decorating the tree, doing something for her birthday that other people in the community can leave flowers or a message there if they want to for Liv.
“We’re decorating it with balloons, bows and lights, and hanging the messages to the branches.”
The tree sits on the land adjoining the near derelict Dovecot labour club. Olivia’s family and a band of local residents have joined forces to try and transform the club into a haven against crime, and build a memorial garden for Olivia on the grassy wasteland which sits there currently.
The family has left messages on the tree ahead which include one from Cheryl, which reads: "Happy 10th Birthday baby girl, flying high, love you forever, mum xxx"
The Mirror is backing the family's campaign to raise £300,000 for the project, which will see a mural to Olivia, a quiet space for reflection, games for children and picnic areas for families. Two months after Olivia’s last ninth birthday she was killed in her own home in a bungled shooting by drug dealer Thomas Cashman, 34.
Recalling happy memories from that last birthday spent by her mum’s side, Cheryl said: “Last year Liv was “made up” with her new bike which replaced the one she had grown too big for. She wanted to run downstairs and rip her presents open but at the same time she would wait until we were all up so we could open them all together.
“She would be nagging us all to wake up. On her birthday, it didn’t have to be tonnes of people to be a party, even if it was just a few people, just family doing a buffet. She loved being around her family.”
Olivia’s aunt has revealed how her five-year-old daughters will be among some of Liv’s youngest relatives to play on the memorial park. Kerrieann Korbel, 39, said that Liv’s death and watching the toll of it on her sister, Cheryl, was like being stabbed in the heart.
But she revealed that her twin daughters, Ivy and Amelia, both five, have kept her going by talking about their happy memories with Liv everyday.
She said: “It was very heartbreaking and it still is to be honest. It’s like someone has stabbed me in the chest. It’s still so hard. My two girls keep me going at the moment, because they talk about her and they say they miss her.
"It’s them knowing that she’s actually gone and being able to talk about her even though they are only five years old is what keeps me going. For them to go through it as well and understand I think they are stronger than I am at times.
“This area is where Liv was brought up and where we were all brought up as a family. The park is something she would have loved to have when she was here, so knowing that it will be in her name is even better, she loved being the centre of attention and its heartbreaking to know that she would have loved having something named after her but she can’t be here to see it.
"She’s famous but for all the wrong reasons.”
Speaking about her favourite memories of Olivia she: “I used to love her when she stayed in my house, even before I had the kids, she used to stay at mine when she was a toddler. I used to call her my little munchkin.
“She used to take over the telly, we would get our pyjamas on and watch the telly. She was the worst person to sleep in a bed with, she used to fidget, kick you and everything. And then when my two girls came along she was like a mother hen with them, she used to boss them about, they used to play school and she would be the teacher, she just took over.
“As she got older and they got older she got bossier and they answered her back.”
Asked how she broke the news of Olivia’s passing to the twins, Kerrieann said: “They know a bad man shot her, they know that the bad man has been put away, it was the hardest thing having to tell them to be honest, trying to explain it, but as time has gone on they have understood things more. I told them a few days after she passed away because they were realising that we were talking to Cheryl but not seeing so I told them with Kim.
"I couldn’t bring myself to tell them on my own. I don’t think it registered at first, they were asking where she is and so we told them that she is a star in the sky, that she’s an angel. When it came to the funeral we all got cards with Liv’s face on, and the girls have their own in school that they carry with them everywhere.
“This park will make them so happy because they’ll have somewhere to go and remember Liv, I know they will want to be there all the time because it’s hers. They will want to play here but they won’t really understand until they actually see it, that it is Olivia’s park.”
The leader of Liverpool City Council, Coun Liam Robinson said: “Olivia’s murder was a callous and unforgivable crime that stunned and appalled all right-thinking people. It’s fitting that we, as a city, working with Olivia’s family and the local community, honour her memory and its important that her tragic loss is never forgotten.”
HOW TO DONATE
Scan the QR Code here with your phone or tablet camera to go to Olivia’s memorial park fundraiser
OR
Send your cheques to Daily Mirror, PO Box 4010 with the following details
Name: Kingsheath and District Veteran’s Association
Sort code: 53-70-21
Account number: 75230771
You can also donate online here
Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the Echo Daily newsletter here
READ NEXT
Police cordon off road after woman, 21, falls from bridge
Joseph Holland's cause of death confirmed as man due to appear in court charged with murder
