The friend of a Dundee make-up artist who died aged just 47 has launched a fundraiser to help cover her funeral costs.
Apryl Keenan, 43, had been friends with Ann Marie Taylor for more than 20 years before her death on Friday, after she was taken to hospital following a cardiac arrest.
The pair met in the early 2000s when they worked behind the cash desk at Circus nightclub.
Apryl, who now lives in Lancashire, stayed in Dundee from 1997 to 2006, where she formed a strong bond with Whitfield resident Ann Marie.
They remained close friends, going on holidays together and regularly visiting each others’ families.
Apryl says she decided to launch the fundraiser for the funeral due to the number of people that are expected to attend.
‘This funeral is going to be massive’
Apryl said: “I was talking to the family from the moment that Ann had her cardiac arrest, and it got to a point that we knew that she probably wouldn’t come back from this.
“I asked her son Dean, ‘how are you going to manage?’ And he just said, ‘I don’t know yet.’
“At that point I knew something would be needed to help them, so that was my first inkling that I needed to do something, but didn’t know what.
“Dean mentioned after Ann passed about all the messages he was getting and he said, ‘this funeral is going to be massive’.
“He wasn’t really worried but kind of surprised at how many people are going to miss her and how many people are going to want to show the love for her.
“I think there are a lot of people who are going to want to come to the funeral and rightly so, because she blessed us all with her amazement.
“I would pay for a front-row seat, put it that way.
“The way I look at it is, if she was here singing again, we’d all be paying for a concert ticket, we’d all want one.
“She never held a concert, so this is the next best thing we could do.”
Apryl says Ann Marie had a love for singing – and one of their favourite things to do together was karaoke at Deacon Brodie’s.
She always dressed well, looked well, she would always make things more special than they already were
She said: “I used to sing with her quite a lot for a laugh, I was never in bands like Ann was over the years.
“Everything she did, she did with such care and love and glitter.
“It’s so fitting that she passed on Bonfire Night because she really was a firework.
“She always dressed well, looked well, she would always make things more special than they already were.
“Everything just became an adventure and a mystery, no matter what you were doing with her.
“You couldn’t just have a cup of tea or a walk on the beach, everything just became more when Ann was around.”
The fundraiser has now gone above its original £3,000 target, but it is hoped that more can still be raised.
Any additional funds collected will go to Ann Marie’s children – Dean, 21, and Layla Rose, eight.
Children a ‘great testament’ to Ann Marie
Apryl added: “I only put £3,000 as a gauge, I know that £3,000 is roughly the cost of a funeral, but with more people attending I have no idea how much that would go up.
“Anything over what is needed should go to Dean and Layla because they’re going to need whatever support they can get.
“I just wanted them to know that for this first while, they shouldn’t have to worry about basic things that Ann would have done without thinking.
“I don’t think they’ll ever be OK but I think they will get through it. That’s the other thing that they’ve got from Ann: the strength that she’s given them, and the strength that she’s raised them with, is absolutely immense.
“They really are a great testament to her, those kids. They would not be anything like the people that they are without her.”
More details on Ann Marie’s funeral will be confirmed on her Facebook page in due course.
