The sister of a Morpeth woman who took her own life in 2024, has been 'overwhelmed in a good way' after a heart-breaking tribute video was viewed millions of times online.
Lucy Nevens, the older sister of Grace, posted a touching video tribute to TikTok, remembering the 22-year-old, whom she described as "the light and life of the party."
In a video capturing moments from Grace's birthday, set to the music 'Stand By Me' by Ben E. King, a caption on screen reads: "One minute you're celebrating your sister's 22nd birthday with her, six months later you're sitting at her funeral."
On TikTok, where the emotional tribute was shared, the video has amassed more than five million likes, upwards of 17,000 comments, and over 40 million views.
"It's been quite overwhelming, but in a good way," Lucy, 25, said.
"So yeah, it has been overwhelming, but it's been quite nice because there seems to be a bit of a community that's forming in the comments of people who have been, sadly, through very similar situations.
"It's nice to speak to those people because it gives you a bit of perspective on where their mindset is further down the grief process. So that's quite helpful, I've found.
Lucy said that she hoped the video might be able to 'help bring people together' who were going through the process of grief, which she said could be "quite isolating" at times.
The video was taken on Grace's 22nd birthday, one of the 'last really good memories' Lucy has with her sister.
"I love that video of my sister, it's one of my favourite ones to watch back on.
"She had a really good night and so did I as well."
Another result of the touching tribute being shared has been that some of Grace's friends and course-mates have got in touch after coming across the clip on their 'for you page' on the app.
@lucynevens i’ll love you forever gracie
♬ sonido original - wil
"She was quite popular at university in Leeds.
"She was studying psychology and was president of the Psychology Society. She was in the athletics team as well, so I know she had quite a lot of events and socials that she attended with her friends in Leeds.
"She was all the time the light and life of the party and just a really lovely person.
"There have been a few people who have reached out to me after watching the video who had been on her course in the past few years and sent me messages about how lovely she was.
"A lot of her uni friends I never met or knew, so it's been nice that they've been able to get in touch with me and share stories and pictures and talk about Grace. It's been lovely to hear."
Lucy's parents, Sharon and Neil, have also seen the tribute video and were 'shocked' at the global nature of the response.
"I spoke to mam and dad about it the other night and they were quite shocked. I mean, they have TikTok but I'm not really sure if they know how to use it properly - in a classic mam and dad way," Lucy said.
"They were just completely overwhelmed. It's shocking that it's gone so viral, but at the same time it's not shocking at all because it's such a beautiful video of her.
"And you can just tell by looking at it for a second that she was just a lovely person - really beautiful inside and out."
In the weeks following Grace's death in November 2024, a fundraiser for Mind - the mental health charity that she volunteered for - reached more than £25,000.
"I think there's an overarching message that I was hoping to spread awareness about on mental health in general," Lucy said.
"For anyone who's gone through the same sort of loss as I, or so many others, have, then there's always someone you can reach out to who are in similar situations that could be able to help you.
"The main message I want to spread is to raise awareness around mental health to hopefully prevent more families from having to go through what my family is having to currently, and also to help people who are unfortunately already in the same situation find some support from others to help guide them and help them feel less alone.
"Also, I just like to share things about my beautiful sister to help keep her presence alive."
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