A YOUNG teacher who tragically died from Covid-19 on her 25th birthday has been remembered as a "beautiful soul".
Claudia Marsh collapsed after contracting the bug – rushed to the Royal University Hospital in Liverpool.
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But the young woman tragically passed away on the day she should have been celebrating her birthday.
An online JustGiving fundraising page has now been set up for Claudia after her "sudden and unexpected" death.
Her mum Tina Marsh has since thanked those who have made donations to help the family get through the "dark days" of losing Claudia.
Writing on the fundraising page, she said: "Just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated so far.
"We are truly overwhelmed by the generosity of people, especially given these difficult times that we are living in.
"The messages of support, and the affection shown towards Claudia has really helped us through the dark days. She would have been blown away and had THE biggest smile on her face!"
Claudia had recently qualified as a teacher but during the pandemic threw herself into volunteer work to support others.
And donations will go towards two organisations Ms Marsh was involved with, Talking Eating Disorders (TEDS) and The Whitechapel Centre, and hasalready raised more than £15,000.
The fundraising page for Claudia read: "Claudia became the 'poster girl' for the charity, appearing on their website and Instagram pages when donations had been made.
"She loved being able to make a difference to people less fortunate than herself."
'SHE LIT UP A ROOM'
Friend Leigh Best, who is also the founder of Teds which helped Ms Marsh when she had an eating disorder, said Claudia had collapsed suddenly before her unexpected death.
And she paid tribute to the young woman, saying: "I have to say anyone who knew Claudia would say she just had a very beautiful smile.
"She had a smile that lit up a room, and she was very kind, very caring, very funny, and just a really, really beautiful young woman. She really was.
"And although she hadn't been attending TEDs for years she still made positive affirmation cards and recovery cards for our organisation.
"She was just a beautiful soul, really.
"She was a lovely, lovely young woman."
Claudia's death is one of the more than 100,000 fatalities from Covid in the UK.
The number of coronavirus cases recorded around the world has passed 100 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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