The husband of a high-achieving Sydney mother-of-three who died weeks after giving birth has paid a heartfelt tribute to his 'full of life' wife.
Cathy MacGuinness, 40, was rushed to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest at her Marrickville home on Easter Sunday, just two weeks after giving birth to her third daughter, Goldie. She spent almost three weeks in hospital, where she was placed in an induced coma, before dying on April 25 due to severe brain damage after being without oxygen for too long.
She leaves behind her husband Sebastian Fletcher and their three daughters Zoe, 7, Rosie, 3, and newborn Goldie.
Fletcher, a 41-year-old freelance 3D artist, told 7NEWS.com.au on Thursday MacGuinness's death was 'so heartbreaking'.
'Cathy was so full of life and loved her family and friends dearly,' he said. 'She was incredibly confident and social and always left people feeling like a million dollars with her generosity of compliments, humour and warmth.'
He said MacGuinness was always keen to jump in and solve other people's problems.
'Cathy was filled with creativity and would always be making cards or silly invitations or costumes, getting great satisfaction from surprising and delighting people,' he said.
'It's so heartbreaking. She had so much left to do and give in her life. She will forever be missed by so many people who were lit up by her presence.'
MacGuinness's mother, Christina, remembered her daughter as 'the most amazing communicator'.
'After a chat with her, you felt reassured, lighter, confident and excited for the next day,' she said. 'You knew what you said mattered to her.'
Her brother, Frank, said losing his little sister has 'left a hole that will never be filled'.
'She was my rock, my hero and my best friend,' he said.
Her best friend, Jo Allen, who created a GoFundMe page to support the family, told 7NEWS.com.au MacGuinness had built a successful career, most recently serving as head of operations at Alauda, an aerospace company, after working at Microsoft and Commonwealth Bank.
MacGuinness had been living unknowingly with dilated cardiomyopathy, which causes the heart to enlarge and struggle to pump blood effectively, her sisters-in-law Gillian Binchy-MacGuinness and Alison Scotland said. They said symptoms can be easily dismissed — particularly for busy mothers or pregnant women — as they often resemble everyday fatigue, dizziness and swelling.
The pair, who were with MacGuinness in hospital, described the three weeks as a 'roller coaster', clinging to hope for a miracle that never came.
'We said goodbye to the brightest spark ever,' they said.
They urged other women not to ignore seemingly minor symptoms.
'It's so easy to dismiss yourself or just be like, 'Oh, I'm just tired'. Or, 'Yeah, I've been on my feet all day, that's why my legs are swollen' and not to give it a second thought because, as a mother, you put everybody else in front of yourself,' they said. 'Don't dismiss even the smallest symptoms … go and see your GP.'
Echoing the family, Allen said MacGuinness made everyone feel important, calling it 'a really special trait'.
'She shows up with her full self, always. She lights up any room she walks into — magic in human form,' Allen wrote in the fundraiser. 'She reads the card you gave her on the spot, just to double the love in real time. She travels across the city to walk a friend to work. She drives you home at midnight. She buys the drinks despite not drinking any. She dances like no one's watching.'
She did all of this while raising three daughters with her husband, her friends said. Now a single father of three, Fletcher is being supported by an outpouring of donations.
'Like so many young families, they hadn't yet put life insurance in place — they truly believed they had their whole lives ahead of them,' Binchy-MacGuinness said.
