Stephanie Eastwell was born at 5.30am on the 5th October 1988, to parents John and Sandra Eastwell, here in City Hospital in Nottingham. She is survived by her younger sister, Tasha.

Steph attended Jesse Boot Primary School, before going on to attend Greenwood Dale and then study at college for her Level 3 in Childcare. She loved to dance, even joining a dance club at around seven years old, having been inspired by the Spice Girls.

Steph adored her little sister and when Tasha had an issue at school, Steph stepped in and said to the offending parties “if you mess with my sister, I’ll mess with you!" Upon leaving school, Steph found work at Staples, firstly just as a Saturday job, then full time. She met her friend Jen at Staples, with Jen going on to become one of Steph’s best mates.

(Although in later years, when Jen had a family, that Steph would pop over to Jen’s house and if there was food on the table, Steph would be on hand to eat it - including if it happened to be the kids turkey dinosaurs!)

Steph then went on to use her Childcare qualification to work full time at a private nursery that was then called Hickory House. It was at Hickory House she was to meet a group of workmates who also became friends - Rachel, Keri, and Tasha.

Steph loved her boy bands - Backstreet Boys; Olly Murs - attending concerts whenever they played in Nottingham. Steph also loved to go ice-skating in her teens. Although it was quite funny that in their 20’s when the two sisters would go into town, it was always Steph that was the one who got id’d, not her younger sister…

It was tough for Dad John to let go as both the girls got older. He is a very protective and supportive Dad. Tasha once had made a trip to Falmouth without her older sister and really wasn’t keen on coming back on the train alone. A quick call to Dad saw him drive all the way down to pick her up and bring her back - no hesitation or reluctance whatsoever.

Thinking towards her future, with the thought of having a family of her own, made Steph think about changing her career in the nursery environment. Although she was loved by all the parents and often babysat for the children outside of nursery hours, it wasn’t something she wanted to do when she had a young family of her own.

This led her to change direction and she moved jobs, to work in a service station just off the A46 in Stragglethorpe. This career change was to lead to her meeting her future fiance, Neil. Neil worked at World of Marble, and the garage at Stragglethorpe was where he would pop in to get his cigarettes. Steph and Neil got chatting, and with her being anti-smoking, she persuaded him to swap his packet of twenty for a vape!

This led to him popping into the garage almost on a daily basis and they soon became an item, but as is often the case, the path of true love doesn’t always run smooth and the pair initially broke up before reconciling a few years later.

Just before Covid paid a visit and put everyone’s lives on hold, Steph was diagnosed with a severe heart condition that was likely to eventually lead to her needing a heart transplant.

Being her usual positive self, Steph kinda shrugged the whole thing off - telling her Mum that “It is what is, I’ve just got to get on with it!” Then in 2022, Steph was hit with a stroke. With a great deal of help and support from Tasha, bit by bit Steph clawed her way back to a form of normality.

She didn’t like a fuss, being a very private person and an independent one at that - having brought her own home, she was more worried about how her Mum and Dad were coping rather than being concerned about herself.

This truly reflects Steph’s personality in general - always putting others first; always smiling, always up for a laugh; she was positive and kind to everyone her entire life, through the good and the bad.

One of the things that drove Steph towards recovery was the fact she was determined to be a bridesmaid at Tasha’s wedding to Liz. Tasha joked that she would carry Steph down the aisle if need be, but the determined Steph made it.

Steph got to see Liz play football in Sunday league; she loved to go watch the Nottingham Panthers play ice hockey (reminding her of her ice-skating as a teenager); she would often attend with Neil and his lad or go with her friends.

She made a promise to Neil that she would always be there for him - having helped him with his own recovery. Then came the devastating news that Steph would definitely need a heart transplant.

The first trip to Papworth was a day-long affair, with Tasha and Sandra accompanying her. Despite the circumstances, it was a very positive time - lots of storytelling on the trip accompanied by a lot of laughs and banter.

Steph was looking forward to the transplant in lots of ways - thinking about how it would lead to a better quality of life and perhaps her own family.

In December last year, Steph was admitted to City Hospital and soon after transferred to Papworth, pending the transplant. Neil decided to propose and Steph accepted, but she wanted to walk herself down the aisle, so the actual wedding was to be later this year.

Steph was a very good in-patient, until it was suggested that perhaps she take up knitting as a pastime to while away the days. Being only 36, I’m sure you can imagine her reaction to that suggestion!!

Steph’s always had a positive attitude; she would never complain about her situation or grumble at the nurses. (Unless it was to moan about the rubbish hospital food - she would get sister Tasha to bring her Nandos!)

And Tasha also brought her sister a massage machine which Steph took to like a duck to water. The nurses would giggle when passing her room, as there would be Steph, relaxing with her massage machine around her neck, face mask on and spa music playing gently in the background.

A lot of the nurses were of a similar age, not like the rest of the patients who were considerably older than Steph, so they went out of their way to make Steph feel as comfortable as they could, even bringing her treats now and then.

And visits from family were always a highlight - Tasha would always bring some sort of goodie or item that would bring a smile to Steph’s face; and Neil and Sandra worked out they had driven the equivalent mileage of going to America and back!

Back when Steph had had her stroke, for some ridiculous reason, her claim for PIP was denied. But her feisty little sister was not taking that lying down and the pair went about taking the decision to appeal. And they won.

Tasha gave a wry smile when telling me that after this decision, her beloved sister’s internet history became full of wedding dress searches, flowers and bridesmaids dresses.

On the 21st April 2025, Steph’s heart transplant took place. It was sadly the last time our family got to speak with her, as complications from the surgery ultimately led to Steph sadly passing away on the 7th May 2025.

But I’d like you to try hard to remember that Steph was always smiling, being positive, eagerly looking forward to the next chapter. 

She will be forever missed, forever loved and forever young.