"I can't wake Mummy up": Olympian dies at 43
A former Olympic swimmer has passed away suddenly at the age of 43 while on a trip with her family.
Helen Smart, a British swimming champion who competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was found unresponsive by her four-year-old daughter Heidi when she tried to climb into bed with her parents.
Heidi then woke up her father Craig Smart, saying, "Daddy, I can't wake Mummy up," before Craig discovered his wife lying next to him dead.
Smart's mother confirmed the news of her passing, telling the MailOnline, "Heidi had woken up in the night and tried to get into bed with her. She said to her daddy, 'Mummy won't wake up''. He said, 'Oh, she must be very tired Heidi - you go back to bed'."
"He put the torch on and he said later that when he looked he could tell."
Linda continued, "We're distraught. They don't know what it is but they think it must have happened shortly after she went to bed. She just died in her sleep."
Just hours before her sudden passing, Helen and her family had been paddle boarding in the north of England, while on a trip for her brother Robert's 40th birthday.
Helen had not been suffering with any illnesses her family knew of.
Linda said, "At midnight, she went to bed telling me: 'I'll go to bed now mum as I know I'll be woken at 6am by Heidi. I just want to get some sleep in as I've had a long day.'"
Linda was then woken by Robert at 4am who said, "Mum, dad, you need to keep up - we think Helen's died."
Smart's father John said he and his wife "can't comprehend how she could simply go to sleep and not wake up."
Helen became a school principal after her retirement from swimming and was enjoying her new life.
Craig Smart took to her school's Facebook page to say his wife "loved the school, staff, children and parents so much."
"She was so proud to reach her goal of being Head Teacher," he continued. "She used to say to me all the time she could never see herself at another school. She was Worsley Mesnes through and through! I remember only last week she said her goal was to get the school to outstanding and that she had the right staff to achieve this!"
"I hope you all keep learning like champions. Please learn from this and live your best life, no regrets, take lots of photos, make memories and keep smiling just like Helen always did!" he added.
Image credits: Twitter / Getty Images