Jade Goody is 'most mourned celebrity'

Ellen Branagh,Press Association
Tuesday 29 December 2009 16:54 GMT
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Big Brother star Jade Goody has proved to be the most mourned celebrity this year, according to an online tribute site.

Her death on Mother's Day after a highly-publicised battle with cervical cancer sparked an outpouring of feeling across the nation.

Today website Lasting Tribute said an online memorial for the mother-of-two received the most hits of any celebrity this year - even more than Michael Jackson, who died in July.

Goody's page attracted more messages and images than any other famous person on the site, and more than 600 people left messages to the star.

King of pop Michael Jackson has received the second largest number of tributes on the site, and other popular celebrity tributes include actress Natasha Richardson, film star Patrick Swayze and Boyzone star Stephen Gately.

The outpouring of grief for Jade Goody included messages from Tim Denver, who wrote: "Used to see her around Loughton and Chigwell a lot as I'm a bus driver, said hello once and she was such a nice person, and she remembered me every time she saw me i got a wave, a proper down to earth woman. I hope u rest in peace Jade."

Sharon Armstrong wrote: "Rest in peace Jade, You'll be sadly missed! My thoughts are with your family and 2 lovely boys, u have been and will be an inspiration to many!!!! Xxx"

Scores of sympathy messages were also sent in for influential folk singer-songwriter John Martyn.

Digger Harden wrote: "John you will never lay your head down without a hand to hold, while your fans remember you."

Lasting Tribute, which now has more than 1.3 million tributes online, has also attracted contributions for soldiers and former soldiers, whether veterans like Harry Patch, the last British survivor from the First World War trenches who died in July, or Royal Marine Danny Winter, who died in Afghanistan in January.

Managing director Elaine Pritchard said: "We are very proud that so many people feel comfortable using our website to pay their respects publicly to their own loved ones as well as to celebrities and people in the public eye.

"It is good to hear from bereaved family members that they are comforted by the public expression of sympathy on Lasting Tribute and that messages and images left by people across the world reassure them that their loved ones live on in peoples' hearts."

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