Mother, 43, dies after collapsing at her son's Shropshire school

A 43-year-old Shropshire mother of five has died after collapsing while helping at her son's school.

Patience Peplinski, of Higher Heath, near Whitchurch, died at the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, on Thursday night after being taken ill at Lower Heath School on Wednesday afternoon. She suffered a brain haemorrhage.

Tributes were paid today to the music teacher who was helping a friend hold an after-school club at the school where her youngest child is a pupil.

She leaves five children, Jozef, 19, Izabella, 17, Aggie, 15, Maciek, 12, and Tadek, nine.

Her devastated family today said her death came "completely out of the blue".

Her husband Mark said: "She was very energetic, full of life. She was a very loving mother, so proud of her children and what they did.

"We have had a lot of letters, notes and messages from friends and family. They have all really helped and it is surprising the depth of feeling people had for her."

He said she had been a music teacher for a number of years across Shropshire, having been active with amateur dramatic groups in Whitchurch and Telford.

She also taught music at Prees School.

Mrs Peplinski is understood to have suffered an aneurysm before she was taken to hospital by ambulance where she died on Thursday.

Mr Peplinski added: "All of her family live locally and have been a really great support.

"She had lived in this area since school, she counted this part of the world as her home. The doctors said there was nothing they could do for her."

Councillor Marston Dufty, chairman of Prees Parish Council, today offered his condolences to the family.

Paul Wynn, Shropshire Council member for Prees, said the death of Mrs Peplinski and the two young men, Tom Nixon and Adam Childs, who were killed in a car crash on Wednesday night at Tern Hill had made it a trying time for people in the area.

A funeral for Mrs Peplinski has not yet been arranged.

By Tom Johannsen