Rhondda father 'crumbled' when daughter died after fall at school

"I know I'm biased because she was mine, but she was the best human I've ever met," says Aaron John Huxter of his daughter Olivia-Grace.

The 33-year-old says his "entire world crumbled from a phone call" when he was told his eight-year-old daughter had fallen at her school in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

He was more than an hour's drive away, and when he was just around the corner, he was told they had restarted her heart.

Aaron says he got out of his van and collapsed in shock, before being taken to the ambulance where a paramedic told him: "We've stabilised her but you have a very, very sick little girl."

Not long after, they were told Olivia-Grace's brain could not recover. Aaron and Olivia-Grace's mum, Melanie, stayed with her at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales until she died on 8 October 2025 .

"It kills me that the worst day of my life was just a normal Wednesday for everyone else," he says.

"She went off to school, just as she did every day, and then never came home."

The coroner's report is still outstanding, and they are not sure they will find out the exact cause of Olivia-Grace's death, but Aaron says he does not blame anyone.

He described his daughter as a miracle who "defied the odds" as she had Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD), underwent heart repair at six months old and overcame pneumonia at five.

"I'm sorry you never got to meet her," Aaron says, "that's how I feel when I tell everyone about her.

"Nothing can ever prepare you to lose your child. Not just to lose your daughter, but to lose your entire reason. Trying to move forward from losing a child, it's the most difficult thing in the world.

"The pain I feel now, I know I will always feel, but I know it's completely necessary. I wouldn't want anything that would stop me from missing her, she was so incredible she deserves to be missed every day.

"I'm just grateful it was me, I'm the one she chose."

Aaron is part of a men's bereavement campaign run by the charity 2wish , which supports those affected by sudden death in young people.

It aims to encourage more open conversations about grief.

"The general standard is that the mum would be the one really struggling, and the dad is there as the strong one," he says.

"I wish I could say that's how it happened but we just went around it in a completely different way, we leant on each other when we both needed it."

Aaron says men could find it difficult to express their feelings "as it's bred in us that it exposes weakness or vulnerability".

"As a man you could just bottle it up... it will fester and grow and it can very quickly turn very, very dark," he says.

"I won't sit here and lie and say I haven't had those thoughts, because I have. The day we lost Olivia was the darkest day of my life.

"You feel like your main job in life is to protect your child and keep your child safe, and I wasn't able to do that.

"As a dad you can feel like you failed, even though it's completely out of your hands, you have still had to bury your child."

Aaron says he tries to embrace the darker times that come with his grief.

"Whether you're wailing or it's a little cry on the way home. I feel it necessary, it's Olivia-Grace coming through."

He recalls receiving a 2wish memory box the day after Olivia died, which gave them a "tiny light in a dark time" and included thumbprints and elephant cuddly toys.

One elephant was left with Olivia-Grace, and the family kept the other elephant, because "elephants never forget".

The family was also assigned 2wish caseworker Jo who helped them with arranging Olivia-Grace's funeral, and continues to provide support through monthly coffee mornings and regular check-ins.

Aaron says the coffee mornings were a time when he could be vulnerable.

"I put on a face of Aaron the funny one, who makes everyone laugh. In that room I don't need to put on a front, they know the pain I'm feeling.

"Everyone's process with grief is completely different, but with how easy we find it to speak about our grief and Olivia-Grace, we find that it helps others to speak.

"I always make sure to see a picture of their child, to ask about their child," he added.

"I know there are families out there that feel [grief] needs to be something very personal and very private, but it really doesn't."

Describing what Olivia-Grace was like, Aaron says she had a "sixth sense" for people having a bad day and was a natural at lifting people up, greeting strangers with a smile and hug when they needed it.

"She would make the angriest bloke smile, and the saddest lady laugh, that's just who she was... she was who everyone went to when they needed to be fixed."

He says she was a huge part of her school, who are marking her death with an "Olivia-Grace day" celebration, which Aaron and Melinda will be attending.

But passing one year since her death brings painful emotions.

"Because it's the first, we just don't know what to expect or how to react," he says.

"Once that day passes, I can no longer say I lost my daughter in October. I will have to say October 2025.

"For me, every day that goes by, it's not just another day where I haven't had her... it's an extra day I haven't seen her."

He says: "She wasn't just my responsibility, she was the reason I hit any goals, she was the reason I looked forward to finishing work, she was at the forefront of everything I did.

"That wasn't just me, that was her brothers, her sisters, her mum. She was just the centre.

"She changed me for the better, she made me a lot softer. She made me vulnerable, I never knew I could be this vulnerable.

"If she can't do it, I want as many people to know about Olivia-Grace."

If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this report, support services are available on BBC Action Line .

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