Mother’s grief deepens as summer holiday begins without daughter

Two years after her 10-year-old daughter Josephine died from a sudden brain hemorrhage, Jane Justinussen says the summer holiday only makes the absence harder to bear.

Josephine collapsed at her family’s home in Vejle on 27 July 2024 while helping in the garden. Despite immediate medical attention, doctors declared her brain-dead two days later. She had been born with an undetected vascular malformation between the brainstem and cerebellum.

“It’s supposed to be a happy time—making plans, creating new memories,” Justinussen told DR. “But now there’s one person we can’t make new memories with. That’s unbearably hard.” She described the practical reminders, like booking one fewer seat on a trip, as painful proof of the loss.

Josephine, a healthy child who loved dancing and Japanese anime, had shown no prior illness. Her grave is decorated with pandas and other Asian symbols in her memory.

The family has since adjusted to daily life without her: three siblings returned to school and activities, while Justinussen took extended leave before gradually resuming work. A bench in the garden now serves as a quiet place to remember Josephine.

This summer marked the first family gathering at a rented holiday house without her. “Last time we were all there,” Justinussen said. “Now she’s missing—not just from her siblings, but from the whole group.”