A young mother-of-four has died suddenly after a severe asthma attack.

Shelley Fitzgerald, 34, of Bodium Close, Bevendean, struggled with asthma since she was a child.

Her mother Maureen Heath has blamed the fatal attack on mud from the recent floods.

Shelley was dozing at home on the sofa on Saturday when she was suddenly unable to breathe.

She collapsed in front of her husband Steven and all attempts to resuscitate her failed.

Shelley lived with Steven, 31, and their children Natalie, 16, Ross, 14, Nathan, ten, and Reece, eight, in one of the area's worst affected by the October floods.

The torrential rain caused a mudslide from the surrounding hills which swamped people's homes.

Mrs Heath said: "Shelley had been in and out of hospital all her life, at one time she seemed to get ill every time the season changed. But in the last few years it had settled down a bit.

"However there has been so much mud in the air in Bevendean since the flooding I think that made her worse again.

"Shelley was such a thoughtful person. She always wanted to help people, which was why it was so awful that nobody could really help her.

"I lived with her asthma almost her whole life and it was always in the back of my mind that something like this could happen. You hope it won't but you know the heart can only take so much.

"All the family are devastated. We are trying to pull together, to support one another to get through this. But it is especially hard for the children, they loved their mum so much."

Shelley Heath was born in Brighton and attended St Mark's Primary School in Whitehawk, Peter Gladwin Junior School in Portslade and Portslade Community College.

She met her husband, Steven Fitzgerald, 17 years ago and the couple had four children before deciding to get married in 1997.

Mrs Heath said: "Shelley was a unique person. She was never afraid to say what she thought to people and she loved life. Her asthma meant she couldn't do some of the things other people did, like she couldn't go to clubs because they were too smoky, but she had lots and lots of friends and she loved to joke. This is a terrible loss for all of us."