A “faithful and selfless” mother’s grieving family has paid a heartfelt tribute to her after her untimely passing.
The 28-year-old Shaynah Olyvia Smart told her cousins, “My heart feels a bit strange,” after spending an hour at Notting Hill Carnival in August.
She suddenly experienced a heart arrest and was taken to the hospital, where she unfortunately passed away.
The mother-of-two was brought to St. Mary’s Hospital after being hurried to a nearby emergency tent.
Two little boys who Shaynah leaves behind—Jaziah, age 2, and Jeshane, age seven—feel lost without their mother.
Her aunt Melanie told MyLondon: “She was an incredible mum, she loved them so much and it’s heart-breaking that Jaziah will grow up not really knowing who she was.”
Melanie added: “It all happened so quickly, I got a call saying she was being taken to hospital but by the time I got there she had passed away.”
An autopsy report was unable to determine the precise reason for the unexpected cardiac arrest.
However, according to Shaynah’s distraught family, she had had very little alcohol that day and experts have not been able to identify any evident causes.
As they adjust to the loss, her boys are now living with their father.
Jeshane knows what’s happening and can be quite depressed at times, which makes it difficult to hear him when he calls, according to Melanie.
“Jeziah knows mum isn’t there but he’s so young he doesn’t know why which is heart-breaking.
“We’re putting a book together and we’re going to collect as many videos together as possible for him for when he gets older.”
Shaynah, who was born in College Park but lived in Kensington with her boys, was undertaking an apprenticeship with Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s children’s services team.
Melanie said: “She was doing really well, I think because she’s just naturally a very caring person.
She was putting a lot of effort into making that a career, and when she passed away, we learned that a permanent position was going to be made available to her.”
Melanie listed the qualities of her niece that she will miss: “She was devoted and giving, frequently forgetting about herself in the process of helping others.
People who knew Shaynah well also remarked on how lively and dry her sense of humour was.
To provide Shaynah’s boys with the prosperous future she had envisioned for them, friends and relatives have started holding fundraisers.
You can make a donation here, and all funds will be deposited to a Junior ISA in their names to support their future educational needs and other expenses.
Melanie said: “We just want to ensure that he boys have a secure future as that’s what Shaynah would have wanted.
“There have been so many generous people donating and we’d like to say thankyou.”
