A week on from the tragic death of 12-year-old Sunnah Khan, who got into difficulties in the sea off Bournemouth beach, a fundraiser has been launched to pay for a headstone for her grave. Thousands of pounds has been raised so far for the memorial for a “well-loved” and “beautiful” daughter.
She died at Poole General Hospital after an incident that saw 10 swimmers in total get into difficulty last Wednesday.
The description on the GoFundMe fundraiser page reads: “Our beloved Sunnah recently passed on 31st May.
“Sunnah was a wonderful daughter, sister, cousin, niece, friend and granddaughter.
“Sunnah touched the lives of those around and she will be missed dearly by many.”
The aim of the family, who live in High Wycombe, was to raise £3,000 by June 20 and the total already stands at £3,625.
In a series of tweets sharing the fundraiser, Sunnah’s mother Stephanie Williams, said: “On Wednesday I lost my beautiful daughter at Bournemouth beach. Sunnah was so well-loved and well-liked.
“No parent should ever have to go through what her dad and I are going through. We love you so much baby girl.
“(I am) so absolutely overwhelmed by the love shown towards our family and my beautiful girl. I can’t reply to them all but we see them and we feel the love. My family have created this fundraiser for her, please consider donating.”
Dorset Live reports that the funeral for Sunnah Khan was held on Saturday (June 3) at the Central Mosque in High Wycombe with hundreds of mourners there to pay their respects.
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Mohammed Rafiq, a trustee at the Wycombe Islamic Mission and Mosque, told The Sun: “What happened is tragic for the family. “They are very hard-working and well-respected here, this is a close-knit community.
“There were hundreds of people who came to the funeral, the queue was overflowing.”
An inquest opening at Bournemouth Town Hall heard how emergency services responded to multiple calls from the public of swimmers had “come into difficultly in the water following the suggestion they had been caught in a riptide”.
Sunnah, and Joe Abbess from Southampton, were both removed from the water. Joe was taken to Royal Bournemouth Hospital for further medical treatment where he later died.
Police are investigating what happened and arrested a man in his 40s, who was “on the water” at the time.
He has been released under investigation while enquiries continue.
Dorset Police previously said they are aware of “significant speculation” concerning a pleasure boat, named the Dorset Belle, which was in the area at the time of the tragedy off Bournemouth Pier.
The force has said the investigation is looking at all circumstances of the incident, including weather, wind conditions and the state of the water at the time and seized the Dorset Belle for at least two days.
Click on this link to donate to the fundraiser.
