MY BRAVE GIRL TAUGHT ME HOW TO LIVE

Chiara Birikorang, 48, was in awe of her daughter's resilience, right to the end

- LUCY LAING, JOHANNA BELL

Tears of pride pricked my eyes as my daughter Daisy chatted away in fluent Italian to me and her dad Alan, then 37.

Italian myself, I'd always spoken a little to Daisy, and she'd picked up the odd word. We called her Amore too - a nickname that suited our beautiful little girl perfectly. We'd spent every summer since Daisy's birth in 2010 at my parents' home in southern Italy. This year - 2014 - Daisy, aged four, had spent a couple of extra weeks with them when Alan and I returned to the UK. 'She worked so hard to get the hang of the language,' my mum Margherita said. 'It's helped her make so many friends too.'

Daisy was such a social little girl. Born in June, she was a true reflection of summer; full of vibrancy, joyfulness and creativity. When she started school that September, she soon had another large group of friends. But she watched Italian TV to keep her second language strong, ready for when she returned to my parents the following summer.

STAR QUALITY

'Can I change my name to Daisy Joy?' she asked one day when she was seven. It was just a pretty name that she liked and although it suited her, Alan and I never changed her name. Still, she signed 'Daisy Joy' on everything and it always made us smile. She'd been part of a performing arts school for years and in March 2022 got a standing ovation for her solo performance of Brand New You from the musical 13.