Yahoo News Family tributes to 'kind and caring' Tiffany Pearson who dedicated life to helping others
A family has paid tribute to 'kind and caring' Tiffany Pearson who dedicated her life to helping others with disabilities.
Tiffany, from Whitby, passed away at the age of 32, on May 6, 2024, after years of fundraising and campaigning for important causes in her community. She often collaborated with Whitby Town FC to raise funds and awareness, particularly after she became paralysed.
Her younger sister, Drew Edwards, revealed that Tiffany became tetraplegic, paralysed from the neck down, following a fall after surgery when she was just 18. Despite this, she fought to regain her confidence, even penning a book about her journey titled 'Bossing Life With An SCI: Triumphs And Tribulations Through A Decade Of Paralysis!'
Paying tribute to her late sister, Drew said: "Tiff did a lot of fundraising for other charities and other people and that's just like the kind of person she was really. She was very kind and very caring. She was disabled herself so she did a lot for the disabled community."
Drew also shared that Tiffany was not one to shy away from expressing her frustrations, but always remained an outgoing individual with dreams and ambitions, reports Yorkshire Live. She highlighted some of Tiffany's local efforts to improve conditions for people with disabilities, including a time when she successfully campaigned for the modification of steps blocking wheelchair access at a house.
Tiffany also played a crucial role in upgrading a set of traffic lights that lacked an audible signal for the visually impaired. She campaigned for a fix, ensuring the crossing now emits a sound to indicate when it's safe to cross. Drew said: "It was small things, but it was small things that meant so much to people."
In Tiffany's memory, her family is now raising funds to give her the farewell she deserves, initiating a crowdfunding effort. The campaign has already gathered over £2,500, leaving Drew overwhelmed at the community's support.
"We just couldn't quite believe how much we raised," she said. "To us, it just shows how popular and well loved she was, and we knew she was a popular girl anyway, but this has just shown us how loved she was and how such a small community come together for well, such a small thing. It isn't small to us and it absolutely means the world. I can't thank everybody enough honestly, I can't."
Drew extends an invitation for all to contribute or share the fundraising campaign, which you can find here.
