Grieving family searching for answers after mum suddenly dies on Christmas

A Christmas tragedy has ripped a family apart after a mother died unexpectedly while her four children were unwrapping presents in the next room.

Queensland’s Ashley Stanik woke on Christmas Day feeling ill, with the entire family of six going through the flu just days before.

Her husband Kane Stanik took over present duties with the children while the 33-year-old went to lie down.

He returned to their bedroom about midday to find his wife unresponsive.

“I was horrified, mate. I was in shock,” Mr Stanik told A Current Affair.

“I just did compressions til my arms, man, they were gone, I couldn’t move them by the time the ambulance got here.”

Heartbroken and reeling from the tragedy, he was forced to tell his children what happened to their mother.

“I pulled them aside across the road and just let them know, had a cuddle and cry and you know took them down to Maccas and that just to get them away so that they didn’t have to see anything,” he said.

The family has been left desperate for answers over the sudden death, with the autopsy inconclusive.

A coroner is now investigating her death, but it could be months before test results return with more information.

Ms Stanik had suffered stomach issues in the past and with an enlarged spleen, clues that could point to what happened along with the flu-like symptoms she experienced on the day she died.

Waiting in limbo for more information, the family have been subjected to abuse online over the death.

“Putrid, putrid like saying horrible s---, like she’s a drug user she OD’ed other stupid s--- like that,” Mr Stanik said.

The father-of-four makes no secret of the fact he has battled substance abuse in the past, but says he and his wife turned their lives around after having children.

“We lived a bit of a colourful life before the kids, so we just cut our whole network off. Family, kids, that was it,” he said.

“Money goes to our kids, we don’t do pokies, we don’t drink, we don’t do nothing.

“Kids, that’s it. That’s our life, mate.”