Heartbreaking tributes have been paid to the 17-year-old teenage cousin of Mia Strothers after he died suddenly at his home.
Thomas Orman was described by his mum as a “beautiful soul” who could light up a room with his bubbly personality.
It is more heartache for the family of 14-year-old Mia Strothers who was killed after she was hit by a speeding BMW on her way to school in October.
Her cousin, a college student, was found unresponsive by his little brother at the family home in Manchester on Thursday February 18.
He was taken to hospital where he sadly died the following morning, Manchester Evening News reports.
His devastated parents still don’t know what caused his tragic death, but initial enquiries suggest he may have suffered a seizure.
Kevin Pryce, 45, is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence after he admitted causing her death in Moston by dangerous driving.
Thomas’ mother, Vanessa Orman, said her son and Mia were particularly close.
She and her husband Paul Orman say they are taking comfort in the fact that the two of them are now together again.
“He was a kind, caring young man who would light up the room,” Vanessa said, as she paid tribute to her son.
“He was bubbly and always made you laugh. He was a beautiful soul inside and out.”
Thomas, who had been diagnosed with Aspergers at an early age, loved computers and was ‘amazing’ at the game Fortnite, his family said.
He had recently changed his college course to computing and IT to reflect his love of gaming.
The teenager had been out with a friend on Thursday night before coming home to have dinner with his parents and six younger siblings.
“He went upstairs to run a bath and the next thing my nine year-old boy came down and said Thomas had his head over the bath but he wasn’t speaking,” Vanessa said.
Thomas’ dad, Paul, phoned an ambulance and was instructed to perform CPR on his son until paramedics arrived.
He was taken to hospital but despite the best efforts of doctors, he was pronounced dead on Friday February 19.
Vanessa said her son had suffered seizures as baby but they had stopped until last December, when Thomas was taken to hospital after suffering an episode at home.
He was in the process of being transferred to a specialist fit clinic, so that more tests could be carried out.
A postmortem examination is due to be carried out later this week.
We don’t know what was causing the seizures,” she said.
“They did all the tests but they couldn’t give us any indication of what was causing it. They think this time he might have had a seizure.
“It has just been such a shock. It doesn’t feel real. To be told that you have lost your son but there are no answers.”
The family say they are desperate to move house following the tragedy, as the memories are too painful for them.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by close friends to help them raise enough money to move, and has already raised over £1,000.
“We can’t stay,” Vanessa said.
“It sounds horrible but we can’t keep reliving it. At night time we don’t want to go upstairs or put the children to bed.
“The family has all been brilliant though. I can’t thank them enough.
“Mia and Thomas were really close. It sounds daft but in a way we can take comfort because it is like Thomas has had to go so that Mia is not on her own.”
Thomas’ aunt, Abby Davies, said her nephew had a personality like no one else.
“He had Aspergers and some people seem to think that people with Aspergers have similar personalities but I don’t like to think about Thomas like that because he was an individual with his own personality,” she said.
“He was so funny. The things he would come out with were so individual to him you couldn’t even make it up. He was just amazing.”
Abby said the family were still coming to terms with the loss of Thomas, less than six months after the tragic death of Mia.
“It’s been horrendous we are just trying to make sense of it all at the moment,” she said.
“It doesn’t seem fair to say we’ve lost two of our families’ children in such a short space of time.
“We are trying to keep each other going and do our best for the children.”