Swishing around the living room in a floor-length, pale-blue dress, my daughter, Kayleigh, 15, beamed. ‘You look so grown-up,’ I choked as her dad, Martin, then 54, took photos.
It was July 2015 and Kayleigh was going to her school prom. While my eldest, Kyle, then 18, was out, the rest of our family had gathered to see her off.
Kallen, then 12, Kodi, eight, Kye, six, Kayden, four and Karli-Mai, two, all looked at their big sister in awe. Kayleigh adored her younger siblings, always teaching them to cartwheel, or plaiting Karli-Mai’s hair. And as she got older, she was great company for me when the younger kids were in bed. We’d play cards on the sofa while watching EastEnders .
As a curvy teen, she’d suffered some bullying…
