37-year-old mum-of-two Nicola McKenzie has passed away after a brutal attack near her home in Moss Side, Manchester.
Nicola was attacked and beaten in the street while she was with her two children, Teja, 12, and eight-year-old Amahri.
She suffered a serious head injury during the attack and was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery. Nicola didn’t recover, and three days after the horrific incident, her life support was switched off and she died peacefully.
Nicola’s parents, Veronica Fiddler and Erol McKenzie, who Nicola and the children lived with, stayed by her side the whole time.
“I got the call at work to tell me, it was a complete shock.” Veronica said. “Myself and her father were there by her bedside when they turned off the life support machine.
“The children have not properly taken it in yet; it’s worse for Teja because she is older and can understand more.”
“They were there when it happened too. The whole community is in shock, she was very well known. She was loving and so kind. It’s such a shock for everybody.”
The devastated family spoke about Nicola at their Moss Side home, where the shocked community laid flowers in tribute.
“Nicola was quiet and lovely and kind. She was completely dedicated to her children,” Veronica said.
“She hardly ever went out without them, they were her life. She took them to school, brought them home and spent her time with them.”
“She was a very very good mother and that is how everybody knew her. The children are going to miss their mother very greatly.”
Police have arrested 43-year-old Oral David Bryan and charged him with assault the day after the attack. In light of Nicola’s death however, Detective Chief Inspector Richard Eales stated they would be “reviewing the charges against him.”
The detective added, “I would like to extend my condolences to Nicola’s family at what is a very traumatic and difficult time for them.”
