Bedhampton woman's '˜hero' Robbie Williams pays her moving tribute
POP idol Robbie Williams has paid a moving tribute to a Bedhampton fitness fanatic who called him her '˜hero'.
Lisa Calladine died just days after completing the Brighton Marathon.
Hundreds of mourners turned out for the 36-year-old’s funeral, where one of her favourite tunes, Robbie’s Angels, was played.
And now the former Take That star and music legend has left a poignant message for Lisa – a super-fan who attended nearly every one of his gigs in Britain in recent years – in light of her death.
Writing on his Twitter page, followed by more than 2.4m fans, Robbie said: ‘Bye Lisa. Babe we’re all going to miss your presence. Much love, Rob x.’
His touching tribute came after Lisa’s mother Donna Marsh wrote on his Facebook page that Lisa was ‘one of his greatest fans’ and the message went viral on Twitter and Instagram.
Mrs Marsh, 57, of West Leigh, said: ‘It’s absolutely amazing.
‘He was her hero, to the extent where my grandchildren, every time he came on the TV, said “look it’s uncle Robbie”.
‘She said she was going to marry him one day, that was the standard joke.
‘Lisa would be over the moon, bless her heart.
‘She has even got a Robbie calendar which is in the coffin with her, we couldn’t let her go without that.
‘Whenever he was doing tours, she was there, and she went to Knebworth.
‘In England, she has gone to every one of them in the past five or six years.’
Lisa died last month. Despite several GP visits expressing her fears that she had deep vein thrombosis, she was sent away and later died of the condition.
Mourners at St Thomas a Becket Church in Warblington dressed in purple as it was Lisa’s favourite colour.
The Spinnaker Tower also shone purple in her memory.
Mrs Marsh added: ‘The level of support has been amazing. The turnout at the funeral just proved how popular she was.
‘I don’t think she realised how popular she was and what an inspiration she was to people. I don’t think there’s anyone who ever had a bad word to say about Lisa.
‘Her determination, and how she lost six and a half stone in weight, was amazing. She was so dedicated to her fitness.’