A devastated mum says she fell asleep in her child’s bedroom and woke up to find her husband lifeless in bed.
Sophie Hugill, from Bromley, London, drifted off in her son’s room at around 11pm after spending an emotional day at her nan’s funeral on February 9. But when she went to check on her partner, Mark, she noticed he was unconscious at around 9.30am the following day. The heartbroken mum fought to “bring him back” but said she struggled to perform compressions because he was “wedged against the wall”.
After advising Sophie on the phone, an ambulance arrived around 45 minutes later. Despite their best efforts, the medics pronounced the 37-year-old dead. His family are yet to find out the cause of his death. Speaking about the moment she found her husband, lying diagonal in bed, Sophie said: “I really tried to bring him back, but I think he was gone when I first found him. My life changed from walking from my son’s room to mine, all within five steps.”
The mum said she doesn’t “understand” what happened. She explained that Mark had type 2 diabetes but said his condition had been controlled with medication. The dad, who did “everything he possibly could” to make their family happy, leaves behind his son Harvey, who has autism, ADHD and speech and language delay. Sophie explained that she would have to give up her privately rented house because it is too “extortionate” to afford by herself.
Sophie says she has been left “frightened” for her future as she was previously taking off the social housing list after being told her and Mark earned “too much” money, reports News Shopper. “I know why Mark worked so hard, I am so scared about mine and Harvey’s future, we had it all planned out,” she said. “I can’t stay private renting, we barely did it together, let alone on my own.”
A fundraiser has since been launched to help provide the family with some “security” at this difficult time. The page read: “Sophie’s husband, Mark, died suddenly in the night. He was only 37 years old and they have an autistic son together. Mark was an incredible dad, despite his son having challenges, he spent every waking minute that he wasn’t working doting on his family. Making them happy was his life’s mission!
“Sophie works in the special needs school that her son attends. She is a kind and selfless person, who is obviously broken by what’s happened. We are hoping to raise funds to help contribute towards the funeral costs and help Sophie move forward in a now different journey of raising her son. Although there’s nothing we can do about this awful tragedy, we are hoping to ease her financial burden and to help Sophie bring up her boy without her beloved Mark by her side.” To donate to the fundraiser visit here.
