'It's a nightmare we are waiting to wake up from' - Former Olympic swimmer and school head Helen Smart died suddenly after going to bed on family holiday

Former Olympic swimmer Helen Smart tragically died after going to bed on a family trip to the Lake District - a place that she loved to visit and 'felt like home'.

The mum-of-two's loved ones have shared their heartache after her sudden death, describing her as an 'adored' and 'much-loved' sister, mother, wife and daughter who was 'always smiling' and 'lit up every room'.

Helen, from Wigan, was only 42 when she passed away as the family were enjoying a weekend break away near Lake Coniston in Cumbria to celebrate her brother Rob's 40th birthday. She was there with her parents, husband Craig, two children, her parents and other extended family.

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She had enjoyed paddleboarding in the lake on the evening they arrived, August 11, and was excited about going ghyll scrambling with family the next day, before the tragedy.

Trips to the Lake District were something Helen cherished, it was a place that Nicola Hill, whose sister is married to Helen's brother Rob, said 'always made her happy' and 'felt like home' to her .

"It was Rob's 40th birthday celebrations we had gone as a family. We were all together and then she went to bed and that was it," Nicola said.

"It was just a massive shock. She wasn't unwell so we can't believe it. We are describing it as a nightmare that we are waiting to wake up from. It's just being replayed in your head and not wanting to believe it.

"She got married in the Lakes at Low Wood Bay, we went there for her 40th and then her hen party too. She just loved being there and it always made her happy. She used to take her dogs walking there and we even went camping there. It was somewhere she always said she