Fundraising campaign to repatriate body of deceased 11-month-old baby
Family friend says parents are 'desperate' to bring Lorena back to the UK
A fundraising campaign has been launched to repatriate the body of an 11-month-old baby found dead in a St Julian's residence on Monday evening.
The campaign, hosted on well-known fundraising website GoFundMe, was started by family friend Lucy Thomas, who also shared it in a Maltese Facebook group for recent and expectant mothers.
Naming the deceased child as Lorena, Thomas described her on the campaign page as “beautiful” and a “happy, smiley little girl who was truly their [the parents’] world and so deeply loved by everyone around her”, while naming the parents as Sophie and Aleks.
She said Lorena had died in her sleep, “leaving Sophie and Aleks completely heartbroken”.
TVM reported Monday that the infant had been discovered unresponsive by the father when he returned home from work, with initial investigations suggesting she may have choked on vomit.
The parents were “desperate to bring Lorena back to England so she can have her final resting place at home”, wrote Thomas, who told Times of Malta she had known the child's mother for around six years.
The repatriation and funeral arrangements “come with significant costs at an already devastating time”, she wrote.
The fundraiser will cover the costs of repatriating the body, funeral expenses and support the parents’ living expenses “over the coming months” to allow them to “take the time they need to grieve without the added financial pressure”.
The page – receiving donations in pound sterling – had attracted more than £1,500 at the time of publication.
Magistrate Franco Agius is investigating the infant’s death.