
Amy Reyes obituary
My daughter Amy Reyes, who has died aged 17, was unable to talk – but she could communicate. She could let us know of her excitement at a familiar piece of piano music; her enjoyment of the sweariest of Lily Allen's songs; her approval of particular people and boredom with others; her dislike of getting out of bed on cold dark mornings; her disdain for anything she deemed too try-hard. She was extraordinary.
Her life was made hard by Rett syndrome, the neurological disorder she was diagnosed with shortly before her second birthday. It caused havoc with her brain and body. But her essential Amy-ness always shone through. She was a girl who loved music above all things, especially the piano. Sitting beside her father, Eduardo, as he played, her face would light up with joy. We were certain that, if her hands had worked, she would have been a pianist herself.
Amy did not suffer fools. She would turn her head away from anyone who talked to her in a baby voice or who tried to manufacture enthusiasm on her part. No one could make her do anything, and she could not pretend to be anything other than what she was. This was what made her such a wonderful, authentic person. When Amy liked you and gave you her attention, you knew she absolutely meant it.
She loved her family, but that did not mean she always wanted to be with us. Going to school was the central part of her life – from the age of three, when she started attending Cherry Garden, a very special primary school in Peckham, south London. She moved on to the nearby Tuke school at 11, and thrived there on the routine, the fun and the expectation that every child could be involved in every part of school life.
Amy changed our lives as a family, and not just in the obvious ways. Slowing down to make the world work better for her made it work better for us too, as we took time to appreciate the things that Amy liked. She had an excellent sense of humour, and a highly developed sense of the absurd, which got her through so much tough stuff, including major surgeries and endless appointments at St Thomas' hospital, where she was born and where she died.
It is a cliche to say that she taught us more than we taught her, but she really did.
She is survived by me, her father, Eduardo, and her sister, Abby.

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The Independent
29-05-2025
- The Independent
Doctor Who superfan's homemade Daleks bring joy and support to UK charities
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Daily Record
13-05-2025
- Daily Record
Bananas will keep fresh for up to 26 days if you follow this genius storage hack
Bananas can ripen in an instant if they are stored in the wrong place. The majority of households store their bananas in a fruit bowl - but this is actually one of the worst places for them to sit. According to experts bananas should always be kept away from other fruits, especially if you want them to last the week. Storing the kitchen staple next to your apples and oranges can make them ripen rapidly. This causes them to turn into a brown sludgy mess leaving people with no other option but to toss them away. This explains why bananas are one of the UK's most wasted foods with 1.4 million being thrown out every day in the UK. A TikToker has now shared a game-changing tip that will keep your bananas fresher and remain yellow for up to 26 days. The revolutionary advice promises to stop your fruit turning into brown mush before you get the chance to enjoy. The technique stands out from the usual recommendations of using cling film, aluminium foil, or damp paper towels. Amy Cross, who operates the TikTok account @amycrosslegacy, is known for her practical advice on purchasing, cleaning, and storing common fruits and vegetables. She recently divulged her unique jar strategy for keeping bananas "fresh longer". In her TikTok demonstration, Amy shows how she keeps chopped banana segments, peel intact, in a sealed glass mason jar in her refrigerator. To prove its effectiveness, she posted a follow-up 26 days later, revealing the banana still as pristine as when it was first stored, with the skin showing no signs of discolouration. In her video update, she confirms: "These are the bananas I purchased on March 13 and I cut this into thirds and put it into a jar, so they're 26 days old." Expressing her amazement at the result, she continues: "So the whole goal of putting the bananas in the jar was to see if I can get a cut banana to last 12 hours and it's been 26 days." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. If you're not a fan of slicing your bananas, it's advised to store them in a cool, shaded area. Bananas should be kept at around 12 degrees, as they'll ripen faster if they're too warm. A dim room without direct sunlight is ideal, so a warm kitchen isn't the best place for your bananas. For those who wish to store peeled bananas, the juice trick is recommended, as once a banana has been cut and exposed to air, it will quickly turn brown. Just sprinkle some lemon juice or pineapple juice on them - this works particularly well in fruit salads. Speaking about why bananas should be kept away from other fruits, Katherine Kyle from Magical Life Fruit, said: "Keep your bananas separate from all other fruits including other ripe bananas. "Fruits let off ethylene gas when they are ripening, so keeping ripe fruit with unripe fruit will cause the unripe fruit to ripen more quickly."


BBC News
02-05-2025
- BBC News
Man's "lifelong obsession" to restore Jersey's German bunkers
A charity has worked to preserve Jersey's unique wartime the Germans left Jersey following their surrender in 1945, they left behind countless bunkers and other fortifications which for decades lay the 1960s and 1970s, members of the Channel Islands Occupation Society (CIOS) decided to reopen these fortifications again. Malcolm Amy, from CIOS, has worked to restore the bunkers on the headland at Corbiere and the tunnel that joins them. The CIOS said it is a "voluntary charity dedicated to protecting and preserving all aspects of the island's unique Second World War heritage." The team members spend hours cleaning, restoring and researching the bunkers. "I've been obsessed with the occupation since I was a child," Mr Amy scrubbing away the rust, mouldy concrete and other detritus that filled the rooms in the bunker, they lined them with wood panelling, repainted and filled them with the military equipment and sleeping arrangements that had been there during World War were able to be very accurate because of a chance encounter in 2006 when the former commander of the bunker Hoppe described how the bunker looked, and a little about the men who served crew room is where they slept and ate, and has been furnished with wooden wardrobes, mesh bunk beds and blankets, and mannequins representing the soldiers garrisoned in the bunker. The main bunker is linked by a tunnel to another one further up the hill. Mr Amy said after they dried the damp concrete they found scratches and pencil marks made by the engineers who oversaw the original said the reason he was driven to it was because he wanted to show people today "how the other side lived", and that the Germans were individuals and human Amy said he believed it was essential today's generation learned about what happened in the island during the occupation, from every perspective."For me, it's just to ensure that part of the island's heritage is viewed now and is passed on to future generations, which is why most of the team do it," he said. "It's important to educate people about what happened here and present it in a truthful way."