Young mum Julie Hatton was devastated when the light of her life, four-year-old son Leon, died suddenly.
Today she shows a brave face to the world that should act as an inspiration to any other parent facing the same grief.
And she is putting her energy, effort and expertise behind an enterprise that will raise much-needed money for the charity, Cardiac Risk in the Young.
This devoted mother must have felt her world had fallen apart when her little boy died so suddenly from an undetected congenital heart defect.
But even though she thinks about Leon every single day she has found the strength to survive – and now she is positively working to help others with the same illness.
What Julie has shown by organising and promoting her Salsa By The Sea event at Redcart is that there can be life after tragedy. And that message is even more powerfully underlined when her fundraising efforts centre of an energetic dance style that so celebrates life.
Julie's agony at losing her son is still with her, but she sums up her situation in her own words: 'After something so tragic has happened we have two choices in life – sink or swim. I chose to paddle and eventually you will learn to swim once more.'
With that message, and a full enjoyable day of fundraising, Julie can prove to be an inspirational help to many others.
