Mum of two, 32, dies after slipping and falling at work
Jessica Howe was just a week away from her one-year wedding anniversary. Her distraught husband is heartbroken.
Tributes are flowing for a mum of two who died after a freak work accident just days before her first wedding anniversary.
Jessica Howe was working in the food court at a Costco store in St Louis, Missouri, on Saturday when she slipped and fell, hitting her head on a sink and the floor, according to local news media.
The 32-year-old, who has a son, 5, from a previous relationship and a one-year-old daughter with her husband Kevin Howe, was rushed to hospital and placed on life support but died two days later.
Mum's organs to be donated
Ms Howe’s sister-in-law Amanda said on Tuesday the family were told there was nothing more doctors could do.
“She will be taken off life support within 24 hours,” she wrote on a GoFundMe page created to help the family with medical bills. “Even in death Jess was always trying to help others and made sure she was listed as an organ donor… it gives me some peace knowing that some of her will be continuing on in the world, she is saving lives, a true hero.”
Amanda said the mum died later that night “surrounded by loved ones”. “To be honest the amount of people that loved her wouldn't have fit in the hospital wing,” she added, asking people to keep her brother in their thoughts.
“[He] has lost the love of his life, his partner, the mother of his stepson and daughter, the person he vowed to make his world.”
Husband's heartbreak
In an emotional interview with local publication 5 On Your Side, Mr Howe said he felt “empty, hollow, and lost” following his wife’s passing. He described her as one of the most selfless people he had ever met and said his daughter is the only reason he has been able to get out of bed in the morning.
“I'm sitting here in my house at a loss for words,” he wrote on Facebook. “This weekend has been the most challenging time in all of my life. I am going to have to say goodbye to my wife Jessica within the next 24 hours. How do I do that? How does someone say goodbye to a person so great that they became your world?
“I now have to raise my daughter without her mother. I no longer will be living with her son. We were gonna start moving this weekend. I know there is a veritable army of support behind me but it feels so insignificant in the face of the pain I am feeling.”
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