Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

“Paige’s memory will live on” with memorial path at Miller Academy Primary School

Family and school friends of Paige McPhee gather at Paige's Path memorial, Miller Academy Primary School

A Thurso primary school has unveiled a poignant memorial to a “chirpy” former pupil who died from sepsis aged just six.

Miller Academy revealed Paige’s Path, a colourful memorial to “chirpy, happy” Paige McPhee.

Paige was just six when she passed away suddenly from sepsis in 2018. Her death devastated her family and the school community.

Three years on, the school has created a beautiful tribute to their pupil.

Paige’s Path features one colourful pebble for every child in the school. The path lines the woodland area at the back of the nursery where Paige spent many happy days playing.

Visiting the path today, mum Tracy points to a nearby tree.

“Paige was always up that tree when I came to pick her up from nursery,” she says. “Even on holiday when she was only four, she’d go down the biggest slides and be off swimming – she loved swimming. She was just a chirpy, happy girl, always laughing. I have a video of her laughing and I listen to it over and over again.”

Paige McPhee is remembered in Paige's Path
‘Happy, chirpy’ Paige in her school uniform for Miller Academy Primary School.

The pain of losing Paige is still raw for Mum Tracy, Dad James and their family. Today they are joined by Paige’s Gran, their six daughters and their new granddaughter, named Bailey Paige.

Community effort

Headteacher Mrs Budge explains that Paige’s Path brought the whole school community together. “We asked each child in the school to paint a pebble before and then during lockdown to create the path,” she says. “We plan to add to it every year, with each new P1 class painting and adding pebbles to it, making it a ‘living’ path.”

The whole community rallied round for the project. Pupil support assistant Mrs Catherine Woods varnished all the pebbles herself in her own time. Local contractors GMR Henderson dug out the path and laid the cement. Mr and Mrs Mancini from A&D Sutherland Quarry in Spittal provided a Caithness stone sign, to which the family have added their own memorial featuring photos of Paige.

As the pupils show the family around, they’re excited to share their memories. “Paige was my first ever friend here,” says one former classmate. “She came straight up and told me her name, then we did a funny dance. I can’t think of her without crying.”

Paige's Path
Now in P5, Paige’s former classmates share happy memories of their friend, who sadly passed away at the end of P1.

Despite the sadness of the day, Paige’s Path keeps Paige in the heart of the school community. When she is old enough, 6-month-old Bailey will also attend Miller Academy, a thought that’s comforting for Paige’s parents.

“Paige loved babies,” says Tracy. “I remember we got her a Hatchimal toy one Christmas, and when the egg hatched she shouted out ‘I’m a mudder!’

Memories like these have helped the family to come to terms with the loss of Paige.

“It still feels like yesterday”

Tracy explains that their daughter had been to a Little Mix concert and seemed a little unwell next day. When she complained of aching all over, they took her to Dunbar Hospital in Thurso for a check-up. The hospital referred them on to the A&E in nearby Wick as a precaution, and it was only when a paediatrician was flown up from the central belt that the seriousness of Paige’s condition emerged. Within a short couple of hours, Paige had passed away.

“You hear of other people’s children dying of sepsis but you never think it will happen to yours,” says James. “You’d never wish it on anyone. I still miss her a lot.”

Tracy adds: “It still feels like yesterday. It sounds strange but my Dad died recently and since then something in my brain has clicked. I feel a bit better because I feel like he is with her and she’s not alone.”

Paige's Path
A memorial stone donated by Mrs & Mrs Mancini together with the family plaque and a sweet message to Paige.

“We wanted to remember her in a positive way,” says Mrs Budge. “Paige’s Path will be a living memorial to a darling little girl.”

The family says the tribute “means the world” to them, and they are grateful to Mrs Budge, the pupils and staff of Miller Academy, and the workmen who all helped to make it happen.

“It’s nice to have something there in future so pupils who didn’t know Paige will see what she looked like,” says James. “We know she’ll never be forgotten.”

 

More from the Schools and Family team

Parent groups demand immediate action to protect schoolchildren from Covid

Christmas shortages: Will this toy story have a happy ending?

Violin and piano at seven and a songwriting dad: the making of a Young Composer of the Year