A GRIEVING mum who lost her late daughter’s treasured possessions in a house fire has praised a jeweller for helping her through “darkest time of her life” with a personal gift.

When Sarah Louise Price, 23, of Newport, died on February 2 this year in St Cadoc’s Hospital after a long battle with mental illness, her family were barely given time to mourn before tragedy struck again.

Days before the funeral, an electrical issue caused a fire to spread through the family home on Malpas Road, destroying Sarah’s possessions and her brothers’ new funeral suits and leaving the family without a home for nine months.

The family moved back to Malpas Road last month after living at Newport's Travelodge and mum Rachel Price, 48, said that she is starting to “returning to normality” in time for Christmas.

After months of misfortune, another positive has come from jeweller Nicola Kamminga, of Bristol-based business ‘Tree of Opals’, who reached out to the stricken mum in her darkest hour.

The company, which creates custom keepsake jewellery from DNA elements such as breast milk, cremation ash and umbilical cord, offered to create a free piece in memory of Sarah.

The jewellery, gifted to the family last month, contains locks of her Sarah’s hair and mum Rachel was “blown away” by the jeweller’s act of kindness.

“She came to me in the darkest time of my life,” Mrs Price said.

“We lost nearly all of Sarah’s possessions (in the fire) and had very few photos and the normal things people hold onto and need more when someone dies.

“Things were really bad and looking back, I don’t know how we all got through those first weeks but Nikki brought so much light. How can I ever repay her for what she has done for me?

“At the time she contacted me we had not buried Sarah as we had to wait for the post-mortem to be done so she came at the right time.

“Nikki is very much like Sarah. A brave, strong, beautiful woman (and) she makes every piece with kindness and love. It’s so special and no amount of money can pay for it.”

As a twin baby, Sarah Price had two brain bleeds that led her to develop cerebral palsy. She was later diagnosed with mental health issues at 17.

She received therapy as an outpatient at St Cadoc’s Hospital four times between the ages of 17 and 23 and family said that she “hid her mental illness to protect them”.

Her mum added: “I recently wore my pieces and gave family members their pieces at Sarah’s twin sister’s baby shower.

“Now wherever I go I can take a bit of Sarah with me and nothing is more special when you no longer have your child with you.

“I want to thank Nikki for the warmth and comfort I feel wearing them. It’s something that’s hard to explain but she gave me that."

“She is one of life’s special angels and I know with her help and other special people who really understand mental health, we will fight for change together," she added.

The mum thanked family and friends for their fundraising and support since Sarah’s death and plans to campaign for greater awareness around mental health in the future.

An inquest has been opened into Ms Price’s death and is scheduled to take place next month.