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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Yasmin Al-Najar & Ryan Merrifield

Police officer with 'infectious smile' dies suddenly in husband's arms on holiday

A retired police officer died suddenly in her husband's arms while they were on holiday.

Julie-Anne Forkasiewicz, from Accrington, Lancashire, had type two diabetes which had seen her health progressively deteriorating over the last five years.

However, the 53-year-old's cause of death has not yet been confirmed.

She was enjoying a break in Cumbria late last month with partner Peter and her family when she took a turn for the worst, reports LancsLive.

On arriving at the hotel, Julie didn't feel well and took a nap while her husband, her dad Trevor and sister Gillian went for a meal out.

But when Peter returned to the hotel room to check on his wife he found she was lying on the sofa drained of energy.

Julie and Peter were married for 29 years (Lancs Live/MEN MEDIA)

The couple, who lived in Clitheroe, Lancashire, then watched the Glastonbury music festival on TV before falling asleep.

At around 2.30am on June 26 Julie woke Peter and said she felt really hot, though her body was cold.

She progressively began to burn up and her breathing got more shallow so Peter rang an ambulance and he performed 15 minutes of CPR.

Julie was very popular in her local community (Lancs Live/MEN MEDIA)

An ambulance arrived at 4.30am but at 5.20am she was pronounced dead.

During her 21 years in the police, Julie had mainly served on a firearms unit for the Ministry of Defence.

Paying tribute to his wife, Peter said she had " an infectious smile and a great sense of humour".

He said: "There was nothing she wouldn’t do for me and it was never too much trouble."

She was awarded top marks for 300 metre long range target practice during her police training, retiring in 2012.

Julie is survived by husband of 29 years Peter, her dad Trevor and sisters Gillian, Rachel and Jennifer.

Her funeral will be held on Tuesday (July 12).

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