By Alan Richardson

THE GRIEVING family of a fun-loving young Perth woman who died in New York at the weekend have paid tribute to her spirit and sense of adventure.

Susan Duffy (22) died during a holiday in the United States after suffering a seizure.

She had been working at an American summer camp during the holidays and had been enjoying a break with friends ahead of her return to Glasgow University later this month.

Her mother, Mrs Sheena Slider, described her daughter as the kind of person around whom other people would naturally have fun, organising parties and events for friends in Perth and at university.

Her love of life also led her to continually seek new challenges and she had been snowboarding, skydiving and scuba diving in the last year alone.

Susan was in her final year of a product design engineering course, splitting her time between Glasgow University and Glasgow School of Art.

She had been at Perth Academy where she was 5th year dux and was a well-known face in the city centre, having worked at Pizza Hut for several years.

Sheena said, “She had been in New York for her 18th birthday and absolutely loved it and she persuaded all her friends from the camp to go there for the last few days.

“Another one of her friends from Scotland flew out to be with her as well.

“Basically she went to sleep at night and didn’t wake up again.

“We were contacted by the British Embassy and asked to go out and identify her and bring her back home. Many of her friends have been in touch and they are broken-hearted.

“She has so many friends across the world—her flatmates used to joke they didn’t know how she kept up with everybody.

“You just accept it’s your daughter but you don’t realise until you speak to her friends she was a very, very special person and it makes you proud to know other people loved her so much.”

Her step-father, Gordon Slider returned from New York yesterday and paid tribute to the many people who helped him, including the consulate, police, coroner and Bunac, the company Susan had been working for.

Susan has two brothers, Glasgow University student Andrew (19) and Perth Academy pupil Steven (15).

The academy’s assistant rector, Mr George Thompson said the school had been left devastated by the news.

He said, “She was an absolutely super kid. She was someone who got on with everybody and there was no other side to her at all.”

Details of Susan’s funeral have yet to be confirmed.