Heartbroken father tells of battling to save his 14-year-old daughter as she died of a suspected heart attack

A British Airways captain has told of the devastating moments as he and his wife desperately tried to save their teenage daughter as she died suddenly while on a sleepover with friends.

Hannah Cubin had been at a friend’s house for a sleepover just a few minutes’ away from her house when she suddenly stopped breathing. The tragic teen had hoped to become a pilot, just like her father, who is a former Red Arrows pilot awarded an MBE for two decades of service with the RAF.

She was spending the night at a friend’s house just five minutes from home when she stopped breathing on Saturday night, just three days after her birthday. Her parents received a phone call at 11pm from Hannah’s friend saying something was dreadfully wrong and rushed straight to the home where she was staying.

CPR

Her mother gave her CPR while her father gave her mouth to mouth while paramedics were on their way. While medics spent an hour in a bid to save Hannah, there was nothing they could do and she was pronounced dead at the scene. While there is no official cause of death as yet, it is believed she died from a heart attack.

Mr Cubin, 54, said that he knew in his heart that she was gone, but carried on trying to revive her. Hannah was the couple’s only child. He said that having a child was his purpose in life and he did not know how he would get through the loss.

A post mortem examination is due to be carried out later this week. Rather than spending Christmas with their daughter, the family will be laying her to rest over the festive season. They said they planned to cremate her and scatter her ashes in their garden, planting a tree in Hannah’s memory.