Family's heartbreak as girl, 24, dies only days after returning from holiday

A family have said they are "devastated" after their daughter died just days after coming back from holiday.

Georgia Taylor, from Gwaelod-y-Garth in Wales, passed away in the early hours of August 21, 2025 in hospital. Her heartbroken family - including her mum Nicola, dad John and younger brother Joe - described her as a "magnetic person" who embraced life and had a promising future ahead.

They revealed the 24-year-old had been carving out a new career in London before her untimely death, as her friends spoke of her "rare gift of putting a smile on everyone's face" and "infectious" energy.

• TUI 'abandons' dad and daughter after plane crash in 'absolutely shocking' holiday hell
• Charity announces they're shutting nearly 200 stores as people 'work out reason'

More than 900 people attended her funeral on September 25. In a moving tribute to their daughter, Nicola and John told Wales Online: "We miss her every second of every minute of every hour of every day. We still can't imagine life without her.

"Her life has been cut short, we are absolutely devastated that she won't experience the life she deserved. It's just not fair."

The family said that Georgia possessed an incredible sense of humour and was always the one with "the loudest laugh in the room".

Nicola added: "Georgia was always so happy. She had a completely infectious laugh and she lit up a room. Like all her friends said in her eulogy, whether you met her for 24 years or 24 minutes, every single person adored her.

"Everybody in their speeches said she would be their go-to person who would calm situations down and talk to them about anything. She loved life and she loved to party with her friends. She always had loads and loads of friends, she was like a magnet."

During lockdown, she came up with the idea of creating a pub in their back garden. It was eventually constructed by Georgia's dad, John, and dubbed the Taylor's Tavern. In one part of Georgia's eulogy, her friends said: "Only Georgia would invite everyone and anyone she met to the pub in her garden and act shocked when half of Cardiff turned up."

Nicola revealed that after finishing her A-levels at Radyr comprehensive school Georgia went to the University of Reading to study business and consumer marketing, and in 2021 landed an internship in London at Nicola's sister's company, Dow Jones.

"That temporary role turned into a permanent one and she became the youngest client engagement specialist on the team," Nicola said.

Georgia's brother, 21-year-old Joe, meanwhile recalled how she completed the London Marathon earlier this year in memory of their grandfather.

He said: "Everybody got along with her, she was such an infectious person and showed no judgement towards others. Everybody loved her.

"She ran the London marathon this year to raise money for pancreatic cancer [after our] grandfather passed away almost a year to the day of Georgia's passing. She ran it for him and she smashed it.

"She was amazing at skiing as well and particularly loved the apres ski with an aperol spritz in hard."

The family explained that Georgia had always enjoyed excellent health prior to her illness, and rarely took sick leave. But towards the end of June, she began experiencing symptoms that initially seemed nothing to worry about.

Nicola explained: "She didn't have any medical issues, she wasn't taking any medication and she wasn't ill at all. She's never been an ill or a sickly person.

"First of all she started getting rashes on some of her fingers around June time. She wore lots of rings so I told her to stop wearing them as it may have been a reaction.

"At the beginning of July her face swelled up and was puffy around her eyes. She also had a rash up her arm.

"She went to the local GP in London and they gave her antihistamines and hydrocortisone because they thought it was an allergy.

"These didn't work and her face was still swollen so she couldn't go to work. A few days later it still hadn't gone down so she went to A&E as she also felt breathless.

"They checked some stats and those came back fine and then they sent her away with more antihistamines."

At the beginning of August the family jetted off on a week-long holiday to the Greek island of Zante.

Despite Georgia appearing generally well, she complained of a "niggling pain" in her right calf during a hillside stroll. The next day Nicola said Georgia could "hardly walk" - though her facial swelling had subsided.

"We took her to the chemist and they gave her ibuprofen gel and some painkillers which seemed to relieve the pain after a day or so," Nicola said.

"She flew home and was fine. Her leg was probably still hurting but she didn't mention it and she went to Worcester for the weekend with friends.

"She came home and the next morning she said her leg was in agony and so a family member arranged for her to see a physio."

The family said Georgia went to her appointment around 6pm on August 20, before sending a message to Nicola urging her to come quickly as she felt unwell and needed to go to hospital.

"We got in there and it all happened really quickly," Nicola said.

An ambulance rushed Georgia to the NHS University Hospital Wales (UHW), where she tragically died with her loved ones surrounding her.

The family praised: "The paramedics and air ambulance were really responsive and prompt and the staff at UHW were so attentive and supportive."

Georgia's cause of death is still under investigation.

Ahead of her funeral, the family requested donations for the charity 2Wish, which provides support for families following unexpected death of a child or young adult aged 25 or under.

The family expressed their immense gratitude to everyone who has donated to theMuchLoved page, with over £18,000 raised so far, and said: "We'd like to thank everybody for their kind donations, it means a lot. We've also been massively supported by friends, family and work colleagues. It has affected so many people.

"It just goes to show if you are kind like Georgia, people notice it."