Sophie Santos tragically lost her younger sister Ellie-Mae to suicide last year
Ellie-Mae Herron, who died in December last year.(Image: Sophie Santos)
A bereaved sister is staging a fundraiser event for mental health charity Mysterious Minds in memory of her younger sibling. Sophie Santos’ sister Ellie-Mae Herron was only 27 when she died by suicide in December last year.
The young mum’s death came as a shock to the family from Bilton Grange. And now Sophie hopes to put on a “beautiful day filled with smiles, laughter, and a strong sense of community”.
Speaking of Ellie-Mae, Sophie said: “She was just wonderful, she was such a caring person but she had had a bit of a rubbish time, I suppose. She was a great mum to her little boy who is eight.”
The idea to stage a family fun day was Sophie’s, and she has the support of her mum, her nanna and grandad, her husband and other relatives who are pitching in with the organisation of the six hour event that will feature party games with prizes, visiting K-Pop characters and Angel & Stitch characters along with bouncy castles, face painting, ice cream and sweet stalls. The event is open to all.
“I wanted to stay occupied,” said Sophie. “I know it’s only a few months since she passed but we’ve done the funeral, we’ve registered her death and we’ve gone through the inquest and now I’m a bit lost, I suppose, so I’m trying to keep myself busy. We were planning on just doing a fun day for the kids in the family, but then I thought we may as well do it for a cause – and to try and make it big.”
The Saturday, May 30 event at Soccer Sensations in the Marfleet area of the city will raise money for Mysterious Minds – a suicide prevention charity that supported Sophie and the rest of Ellie-Mae’s family following her death. The Hull-based group gave £2,000 towards Ellie-Mae’s funeral and spent time checking in with her loved ones, including sending memorial gifts.
“I just want to say thank you, really,” said Sophie. “They’re just brilliant.”
Sophie, who works at Hull law firm Gosschalks, is also hosting a work bake sale in a bid to raise even more funds for the charity which also provides Christmas Eve boxes to children who have lost a parent to suicide. Mysterious Minds is also hosting its own annual fundraiser walk across the Humber Bridge on Sunday, July 19.
Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here.