As my little girl opened her birthday presents, my worst fears were coming true upstairs, my life will never be the same

A HEARTBROKEN mum has told of her grief after her husband died on the day of their daughter’s birthday party.

Stacey Davis and husband Mark had been looking forward to celebrating with their daughter Farah as she celebrated her fourth birthday.

Stacey Davis was devastated when her husband Mark died on the morning of her daughter's fourth birthday partyCredit: Supplied- Stacey Davis

Mark had been a doting dad to his four childrenCredit: Supplied- Stacey Davis

The happy couple had recently welcomed a surprise pair of twinsCredit: Supplied- Stacey Davis

But tragically on the morning of the party Stacey went upstairs at the family home in Northern Ireland and discovered that her husband had suffered a heart attack in his sleep.

Speaking in this exclusive interview, she says: “The kids need me more than ever now - they are lost without their dad too.

“It’s so hard without him and I’m just taking one day at a time. My twins will never get to know their dad. But I’m determined that he will live on in their hearts.

“And they know that the man in the photographs all around the house is their daddy - they always point to the photos and say ‘daddy’ and we talk about him all the time.”

Double surprise

Stacey, 34, says: “I was working at the petrol station. He was a plumber and came to fill his car up with petrol, and from that day on we were smitten.

“We had our daughter's Devon, now 11, and then Farah, now five, and thought our family was complete.

“But then in September 2020 I missed a period. Surely I couldn’t be pregnant. But I did a test anyway to make sure, and found myself staring at the positive result on the test stick.

“I showed it to Mark and he couldn’t believe it either. From the start my belly went huge, just in those first few weeks. I thought it was because I’d already had two babies before.

“I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary when I went for my scan.

“But as soon as I looked at the screen, I could see two sacs and the sonographer confirmed I was pregnant with twins.

“Mark and I were in complete shock, and I don’t think we ever fully got over the shock until the babies had been born. We almost couldn’t believe it was happening.”

Proud parents

In May 2021, the twins arrived into the world, Zander weighing a healthy 5Ib7, and Keeva at 4Ib13.

She says: “It was so different having twins, we would feed and change one of them, and then start with the other. It was like a whirlwind.

“But Mark was a great dad and he was so proud that I’d had twins. He came down the stairs one day holding one in each arm, with such a look of pride on his face. He absolutely adored them both.

“Mark was working during the day, and I looked after the twins, then he’d come home and take over.

“He was loving every minute of being a dad again.

“I slept in the spare room with the twins, to try and give Mark and good night’s sleep as he was going to work.”

But the family’s bliss came crashing down on a Sunday morning in September on the day of Farah’s fourth birthday.

Birthday blues

“I got up with the twins as usual, we were going to have a party later that afternoon to celebrate,” Stacey says.

“Farah was so excited about her party, she couldn’t wait.

“I got up and went downstairs. It was 6am and I couldn’t hear Mark moving around, so I didn’t want to wake him up as it was still early.

“He hadn’t gone to bed until past midnight, when he’d come in to say goodnight to me.

“A while later when the babies were fed and changed, I went up for a shower, and looked in on Mark.

“I opened the door and could see he was lying motionless. Something didn’t look right, and I went over.

“He wasn’t breathing. In a panic I started screaming his name and dialled for help.”

Paramedics arrived at the house but unfortunately nothing could be done to save Mark.

“My amazing husband, my total soulmate, was gone, on the day of our daughter’s birthday party,” Stacey says.

“Just like that, my beloved husband was gone

“How was I ever going to live my life without him?”

A post mortem was carried out and the coroner said that Mark had died from a heart attack in his sleep.

Stacey says: “The next few months passed in a haze.

“I went through the motions of looking after our four children, but my heart was broken.

“The house seemed so empty without him. He’d kept us all going all the time, he was so strong and funny.

“He loved football, and the bond he’d had with our four children had been fantastic.

“He had been so looking forward to watching all our children grow up and now I would have to do that for both of us.”

Memories live on

Stacey is now focusing on keeping Mark’s memory alive for her four children.

“I’ll make sure they grow up knowing how much Mark loved them in those few short months, and what an amazing man he was,” she says.

“They stop at the picture on our wall, and point at it shouting ‘Daddy’.

“It’s lovely to hear them say Mark’s name, as they will grow up without him but they still will grow up knowing what a special man he was.

“I never imagined when I fell pregnant with our surprise twins that I would be bringing them up on my own but I’m determined that I’ll do the best job that I can.”

Stacey says that, touchingly, her twins offer her a constant reminder of their dad.