About Antonia

Antonia Louise Parkinson was a wonderful, beautiful girl who lived in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. She was born on the 1st August 1990. Antonia grew up with her grandparents Anthony and Valerie at their home near the city centre. Her family were very good with her, and she was particularly close to her Aunt Pippa and Uncle John. She accompanied her grandparents on many trips all over Europe and spent a lot of her time practising one of her favourite hobbies with her grandad - playing computer games.

She attended St. Teresa's Primary School near her home and later attended Corpus Christi High School. During this time she met a lot of people and was part of a small but very close group of friends that included her best friends Katie, Sona and Crystal. Also, during her final year at the school, Toni began a relationship with Dave who lived a fair distance away in the Midlands. They met through the internet and their relationship was based upon the time they could spend together on MSN.

In August 2006, Antonia received her GCSE results - two wonderful A* in both Art and Art Textiles and eight other GCSEs at grades A-C. This allowed he to fulfil her aim of attending Cardinal Newman College. She studied Ancient History, Fine Art, Philosophy and Psychology. In the Autumn of 2006, she was the fully-deserving recipient of the Vaughn Shield - Corpus Christi's award for creative talent.

She had experienced what she described as a "perfect" few days with her boyfriend Dave during February - a month which saw them celebrate their first anniversary and Valentine's Day. Upon her short return to college after half term, she had begun new modules in her lessons and was looking forward to learning even more about what she loved. It was the first Thursday after this half term that she tragically lost her life.

Why was she special?

The truth is that an answer to this question could double the size of the internet, but the first thing to remember about Antonia is that she was truly unique. She was an enigma - there were so many different things that she'd think about that you wouldn't know what she was thinking about next. She was smart, intelligent company and could talk about several subjects with ease. She knew an incredible amount about her college subjects, and incorporated a lot of ideas of her favourite philosophers into her own beliefs.

Her creativity was amazing. She had a particular affinity for art work and was developing a fantastic project as part of her AS-Level art project. She had extended into computer art as well, and had manipulated some of her images for her art project to give them an extra edge. Her painting of the Harris Building in Preston City Centre, which she never had the chance to finish, was one of her best all round pieces. The truth is that Toni's head was full of amazing ideas that she conveyed in her art.

Basically, though, it is simple. Antonia was an incredible person to be around. She was an amazing daughter, granddaughter, niece, student, friend and girlfriend. She had the ability to make those around her smile and enjoy their life. She also had the ability to do that herself - she lived her life to the full and did things as she wanted.

These things are what truly made her a wonderful, special girl who will be greatly missed.