THE family of Rachel Carpenter – who four years ago died suddenly from a brain aneurysm – has set up a set a website in tribute to the Leominster mother of five.

On it, people can pay their respects and donate to the Brain and Spine Foundation, a leading researcher into the causes of brain aneurysms.

“We just don’t want her death to be in vain,” said her sister Carrie Carpenter.

In May 2009 Rachel had just turned 35. She was healthy and living in Leominster with her five young children.

Just 11 days later she was dead.

“It was very sudden,” said Carrie. “I went with her in the ambulance to Hereford, and then to Birmingham.”

In Birmingham Rachel was given chemotherapy before suffering three strokes.

“We don’t know what had happened, and probably never will,” said Carrie.

Research into brain aneurysms – where a blood vessel bulges and then bursts in the brain – has yet to find a definite cause.

The website links to information on the condition, as well as hosting its own fund-raising page where people can donate money for research.

Aladdins in Leominster – where Rachel worked – is also putting a donation jar out for smaller amounts, having done so three years ago and receiving overwhelming support from the community, raising £1,000 for the cause.

That outpouring of support reflects the high esteem in which Rachel was held in Leominster, a woman her sister said was “always the first to help anyone out”.

Rachel is buried in Kingsland, but the site gives anyone who knew her a place to leave a message, light a ‘virtual candle’ or simply remember a lady “known best for having a big heart”.

Visit rachel.carpenter.muchloved.com