Mum-of-eight from Huddersfield found dead in hotel room in Barcelona

A mum-of-eight from Huddersfield has been found dead in her hotel room in Barcelona.

Nicola Spivey, 55, travelled to Barcelona on Tuesday, May, 7 on a once in a lifetime trip with her partner, following a spell of ill health.

The former carer is described as a "sun worshiper" by those closest to her, who say she was so excited for the trip after a particularly difficult time of late.

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Nicky fell ill suddenly and unexpectedly in November 2022 and was placed in a coma, she remained in Halifax Royal Infirmary for four months until March 2023.

Daughter, Michaela Thomas, says her mum faced a long road of recovery but gradually built her strength up to talk and walk again. She said that she never got any conclusive answers as to what the cause of her illness was to begin with and it was still under investigation.

Despite this, Nicky was determined to continue living her life to the full and was given the all clear by doctors to fly and was so excited to be able to travel abroad again.

Michaela said: "If there was a bit of sun out you would know where to find her, she would be in the garden, she absolutely loved the sun and holidays. She was always out socialising, she had a lot of friends, she loved karaoke, she loved life."

Michalea says her mum was checking in every day and seemed to be enjoying her trip until she started to feel unwell a couple of days in, so much so that she considered getting an early flight home.

Tragically, the following day on Saturday, May, 11, Nicky's loved ones were given the devastating news she had passed away in her hotel room without any explanation.

Nicky was a much-loved mum to Simon, Michaela, Charlotte, Kirsty, Nicholas, Aaron, Jake and Heather, as well as sister, daughter, grandmother and friend.

Daughter, Michaela Thomas, said: "Mum was doing really well it had been a long road to recovery after she fell ill but she'd been doing well, she had been experiencing some pain in her legs and felt a bit more tired than usual but she was ok.

"Initially mum seemed to be enjoying her holiday, but started to feel unwell a few days in to the point where she started to look at early flights home.

"Then the worst thing imaginable happened, I got a phone call from my dad, my mum's ex-husband, who had received a phone call from her partner and he told me what had happened.

"I was in shock, I still am, I still don't believe it, I think I need to see her to believe it, it's so hard because she's not here.

"Our whole life has just been turned upside down within a heart beat, this was the most devastating and unexpected news we could receive as a family, to us she still had years to live.

"As you can imagine this has had a huge impact on us all as a family in such a short space of time! Nothing could ever have prepared us to lose our mum like this.

"Mum was everything to all of us, especially our youngest sister who was still so dependent on our mum at the fragile age of 12 years old."

To make matters worse Nicky unfortunately didn't have any travel insurance amid the excitement of the last minute trip and now the family are facing unexpected costs as they desperately try to get their mum "back home where she can be laid to rest with her loved ones around her."

Michaela continued: "She's not been away in so long because of her health that I think travel insurance was just the last thing on her mind.

"They booked the trip so quickly after she got the go ahead to fly that it was all a bit of a rush and last minute thing.

"We've been left in a really difficult position financially. We are desperate to bring her home to lay our Mum to rest, say our final goodbyes and mourn as a family.

"We're going to try and pay for it on credit cards, she didn't have a funeral plan set up and obviously none of us were expecting this. It's an awful situation, we just want to get her home.

Michaela has set up a Go Fund Me with hopes to help raise the funds to get her mum home and for the unexpected funeral costs. You can donate, here.

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