- Nicole Barnes, 29, was found dead on a sofa at her home in Huyton, Merseyside
- She was discovered with her daughter Delilah, three, who was not hurt
- Teachers raised concerns after Ms Barnes failed to pick up her other children
- Her cause of death is unknown as her family await a post-mortem examination
- Her partner, Craig Sharnock, now faces raising their four children alone
Nicole Barnes, 29, was discovered at her home in Huyton after she failed to pick up her older children from school.
She was found dead on a couch in her house after teachers rang up her partner Craig Sharnock, 36, to ask why she was not there.
Her little girl Delilah, three, was fine but now faces life without her mother, alongside siblings Nieve, ten, Scott, seven, and Tom, five.
Ms Barnes’ friend Gemma tried to resuscitate her while waiting for the paramedics but she could not be saved.
The mother’s cause of death is unknown, with a post-mortem examination awaited to shed light on the sudden tragedy.
Her family said she was ‘fit, healthy and never had anything wrong with her’ prior to the tragedy.
Mr Sharnock was made redundant a few weeks ago and had been training as a carpet fitter.
But he does not know whether he will be able to work again as he is now a single father to his children, one of whom is autistic.
Ms Barnes’ cousin Kim Jowett has set up a fundraising page to try and help him support himself and the children.
She said: ‘She picked up Delilah at 11.30am from nursery and was just waiting round to go back and pick her children up.
‘She just passed away on the couch. She was an absolutely gorgeous young girl. She didn’t have a bad bone in her body.
‘She was an absolutely amazing mum and she did everything with such grace. She was a better mum than I ever could be.
‘She had loads of issues with getting her five-year-old into help and into school because of his autism but she didn’t stop.
She fought and fought until he got everything he ever needed.’
The stay-at-home mum’s family are waiting for results from the autopsy to find out why she died, reports the Liverpool Echo.
