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The funeral for a Christchurch woman who died after a cardiac arrest in France will be held on Saturday - and the family is asking mourners to dress up in honour of her.
Bella Beirne, 21, died “while enjoying the holiday of a lifetime on the French Riviera with her mother” on July 14, her death notice read.
Bella was a former St Margaret’s College student and was in her fourth year studying law and psychology at the University of Canterbury.
Her funeral will be held at St Andrew’s College Centennial Chapel at 2pm Saturday.
“To truly honour Bella and her love of an excuse to dress up and make any occasion special, we invite everyone to embrace the opportunity to come dressed for a black-tie event,” the family’s notice said.
Her mother Hayley Middleton previously told the NZ Herald Berine was “a truly beautiful loved daughter, sister, granddaughter and friend”.
“To have Bella as a friend, you had her for life.
“She loved hard and was fiercely loyal. She will remain this way for eternity as we have her very much with us.
“A ridiculously huge amount of people are broken-hearted.
“She was so loved and so kind. And smart. Really, really smart.”
Bella was travelling the world with her mum on the trip of a lifetime, which saw her attend a Harry Styles concert in London as well as travel to Portugal, Spain and France.
“Cascais [in Portugal] was a day trip at the beach,” Middleton said.
“Bels loved the sunshine; tanning was her sport; she was a gold medallist at it.”
Bella’s father, Simon Beirne, and her brother, Lachie, flew to France while she was still in hospital.
Her body has now been brought home to Christchurch.
Simon was the founder and managing director of vehicle import business SBL.
Before her daughter’s death, Middleton posted to Instagram about how Bella loved the illustrated book Belinda goes to Paris as a small child.
“I lost count of how many times that book was chosen … dreaming of wandering the streets of Paris, visiting fountains and taking in the beautiful buildings, history and endless patisseries and side walk cafes.
“At some point during the countless number of times that story was shared, we pinky promised that when this teeny tiny baby girl was 21 we’d go to Paris and sip champagne on the Champs-Élysées.
“And as you know, there’s not much more sacred than a pinky promise.
“So 21-year-old Bels and I are off to sip champagne! How bloody lucky are we!”
Bella’s death was a shock for her wide circle of friends, many of whom have taken to social media to express their grief and condolences to the family.
“Beautiful Bella, an angel. Every thought has been with you all, sending you so much love and thoughts as you all make such a hard journey home,” one of her friends wrote.
A social media post from Middleton last Wednesday thanked Bella’s friends for their recent messages of love and support.
“We will read and love every single one of them. You and your messages mean the world to us. Especially now,” Middleton wrote.
“We are approximately an hour out of Nice. The sky is blue, the music is playing loud, and our tears continue to flow in disbelief as we bring our girl home.
"She is so deep rooted in our hearts, comforting us whenever she can.
“And she’s still having fun. Her latest trick was convincing Lach’s he was locked in the bathroom on a plane.
“She’s never far away, and I know she is very happy to have landed on the French Riviera.
"It’s every bit as beautiful as our girl. Well almost.
“We feel all of your love and support. Please bear with us as we figure out what to do with it.
"We want the hugs and to share in your love and tears, yet we also want our solitude to grieve and feel our girl in our home and with space around us.
“You are all important to us, and we feel your pain as you try and imagine what it must be like for us right now. I can confirm it is the most harrowing, sad thing in the world and I pray over everyone that we know that you never experience it.”
-Allied Media