Coronavirus in Portsmouth: Tributes to kickboxer Jorja Halliday, 15, dies with Covid on day she was due to get vaccinated

Grieving family members and classmates paid tribute to 15-year-old Jorja Halliday of Buckland, who leaves behind four younger siblings.

Aspiring musician Jorja, a GCSE student at Portsmouth Academy, died at Queen Alexandra Hospital on Tuesday after being tested for the virus on Friday.

Her mother Tracey Halliday, 40, said she broke the news to Jorja’s devastated siblings who are rallying to support each other in mourning.

Jorja was “loved in every way,” Tracey said. “She was a loving girl and she had a lot of friends.

“She was very active, she loved going out and spending time with her friends and loved spending time with her siblings.

“Growing up, she became a beautiful young woman, always wanting to help others, always there for everyone when they needed it.”

She added: “It’s heartbreaking because your kids are always supposed to outlive you, and that’s the one thing I can’t get over.”

Her sister Julie, 12, said she was a ‘lovely sister’ while her older brother Kallum, six, wrote a poem about her and said to her mother, “I miss Jorja.

Four-year-old Daisie knows Jorja is “sleeping” but has “no feeling that she is going to wake up,” Tracey said. Little Oscar, 18 months old, is too young to understand.

Tracey said, “I like to think of myself as a thinker, I like to keep busy, but I take time for myself and I cry with the kids.

“But then on my own, when they went to bed and when I get the reminders throughout the day, I burst into tears.”

Tracey urged her children to keep talking about Jorja, even if people are upset.

“With the younger ones, I don’t want them to think they can’t talk about her,” she said.

“I explained to Kallum that we wanted to talk about Jorja because we will always remember her.”

Grade 11 student Jorja, remembered as courageous and outgoing friends, studied music, art and Spanish at school.

On Friday, she was not feeling well with flu-like symptoms and had a PCR test.

On Saturday, his result came back positive for Covid, with his isolation in his room at the family home in Buckingham Green.

She had trouble eating on Sunday, but on Monday she couldn’t eat at all because of her sore throat. Her mother called a doctor who prescribed antibiotics for her.

The next night she couldn’t keep the water down. She was seen by a doctor who said her heart rate was double what it should be – and she was taken to quality control.

Tracey said, “They realized how bad it was and I was still allowed to touch her, hold her hand, hug her and everything in between.

“They allowed me that. I am at the point where I cannot understand that it has happened.

“I was with her all the time. They tried to put her on a ventilator to give her body a chance to recover. His heart rate did not stabilize. Her heart couldn’t take the pressure.

“They worked as well as I think they could medically, but couldn’t save her.”

She added: “She got the best care, I know they did everything they could to save her.”

Tracey worries that children are too “jaded” about the virus and that adults think children will just get well.

“She was going to have the jab on Tuesday,” Tracey said. “But because she tested positive on Saturday, she was isolating herself. When her isolation period was over, she was going to get it.

“The day she died was the day she would have had it done.”

Some 57.3% of children aged 16 to 17 received a dose of the vaccine in Portsmouth, compared to 54.5% in England.

Preliminary results from QA’s medical examiner indicate that Jorja had Covid myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart caused by the virus.

Her grandmother Julia Halliday, 62, added: “She was everything.”

Jorja is survived by her grandfather George Halliday, 53, her aunt Lucie Atkins, 41, and her niece Grace Barrett, 13.

Martial arts trainer Badr Bahaj, who runs AG Martial Arts where Jorja trained, said she was a “role model” for the other students.

He said, “She was good to the point where she was so good at what she did that she could actually help the instructors in their classes.

“She was helping the kids – we have over 100 members in Portsmouth and she was theirs in most of the classes.

“All the children knew and loved her and she was a role model for many. It’s a shame and absolutely disgusting.

“Jorja was one of the kids who really grew and flourished in our club.

“She wanted to teach it when she was older. She also had a passion for learning and martial arts were no exception.

“It’s devastating, it’s going to break so many hearts. She is someone we will never forget. She is one of the star students.

Rachel Gray, Director of Portsmouth Academy, said: “We are desperately sad at the tragic death of one of our beloved students, Jorja Halliday. In these incredibly sad times, our thoughts are with her family, that Jorja loved dearly.

“Jorja was a big-hearted, principled and passionate young person who was extremely popular among her Grade 11 peers and throughout the school. She was, indeed, a friend to all of us. She defended the values ​​of the community and was an excellent student, particularly talented in art.

“Our school community is united in our grief and deep shock. We are mobilized during this very difficult period, in particular by providing our students with all the support they need, including through our specialized pastoral teams.