One year on from her murder, Ava White's mum speaks of their unimaginable pain
Ava's mum and sister told us the last year has been 'horrendous' without her and they won't have Christmas again
The mum and sister of murdered school girl Ava White has told us of there unimaginable pain a year on from her death.
Ava was murdered when she attended a Christmas light switch on in Liverpool on the 25th November 2021.
The 12-year-old was stabbed in the neck by a 14 year old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after an argument about him filming her for social media without her permission.
Ava's mum, Leeann White and older sister Mia White told us how difficult the past year has been for the family.
Leeann said: “The last year has been horrendous.
“On one hand it’s gone so quick and on the other hand it’s so long because I’ve not touched or kissed her.”
Ava's death sparked an outpouring of grief from across Liverpool and beyond.
Leeann described her daughter as a “chatter box” and “a prankster”.
Leeann said “She was always popping out from behind a door, even when I was doing the dishes, she’d pop out and scare the life out of me.
“She loved swimming, she loved dancing and singing.”
Today marks one year since her and this year will also be the second Christmas the family spend without Ava.
Leeann told us: “It’s so hard. We are not having a Christmas and we didn’t have Christmas last year.
"I’ll never have Christmas in my house. Christmas was for Ava.”
The family has set up the Ava White Foundation to help prevent knife. They have recently been into a collage to talk about their experience and to raise awarness.
Ava's sister Mia told us it reminded her of having people in at her school do talks about family loss.
Mia said: “I’ve been there, I’ve been one of those kids and I’ve had someone elses family member sat in front of me and I’m thinking to myself ‘wow they must be in some pain, that must be hard.’
“But then for it to happen to us, and then your watching other people watch yourself have to do that. It’s so sad.”
As well as raising awareness the foundation are putting bleed packs around Liverpool.
Tomorrow (Saturday 26th November), one day after Ava's first anniversary, her family will do a sponsored walk through Liverpool.
They will be joined by a group of student nurses from Liverpool John Moores University, KnifeSavers and members from the Adam Ellison Foundation and Danny’s Place.
The aim is to raise enough money to get 15 bleed packs into publicly accessible local buildings like pubs.
One of the organisations taking part is Danny's Place.
Mandy Jamieson set up Danny's Place after her son Daniel died after sustaining a fatal stab wound at a park in Gateacre in July 2018, aged 16.
Through Danny's Place Mandy educates young people on the wider effects knife crime and has recently spoken at our #NotInMyCity summit.
Talking to us about tomorrows walk she explaines the bleed packs have the potential to prevent fatalities, not just related to knife crime, but bleeding from car accident or work related injury.
The packs cost under £100 each.
Mandy encourages anyone to take part in the walk and asks for donations that could be life saving.
She said: “I’d of give everything I had. Every penny I had if I knew that could of saved my son there and then.”
The walk starts at 11am (Saturday 26th November) from the yellow Superlambanana Tithebarn street Liverpool.
The walk will continue through the city centre towards Otters Pool. It is expected to take around and hour and a half.