\u00c1ine O\u2019Donnell<\/span> and<\/span><\/p>\n Georgia Levy-Collins<\/span>BBC Newsbeat<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Olivia Cusack has the letter M tattooed on her wrist.<\/p>\n It stands for Maddy, her sister, the Sheffield United footballer who died in September 2023.<\/p>\n “Her life was cut short,” says Olivia.<\/p>\n “There’s a lot of things we planned together that we didn’t get to experience.”<\/p>\n Midfielder Maddy Cusack was 27 years old when she was found dead at her home in Derbyshire.<\/p>\n She had played for the Blades since 2019 and became the first player to make 100 appearances for their women’s side.<\/p>\n There are still unanswered questions about the circumstances surrounding her death – ones relatives had hoped to have answered at an inquest in July.<\/p>\n But the five-day hearing is now due to take place in early January.<\/p>\n For Olivia, the delays are frustrating.<\/p>\n “It’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened for me personally in my life and you have no control over how that is dealt with,” she tells BBC Newsbeat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Olivia’s tattoo is just one of the things she has been able to do to honour her sister’s memory.<\/p>\n Her family also set up a foundation in Maddy’s name to support women and girls in football. <\/p>\n But Olivia says it has been hard to grieve properly while official investigations have taken so long to conclude.<\/p>\n An external report ordered by Sheffield United shortly after Maddy’s death cleared the club of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n But a second report from the Football Association, commissioned in early 2024, won’t be published until her inquest concludes.<\/p>\n “It’s almost like the pause button was hit in October 2023,” Olivia says, referring to the date when the inquest first opened.<\/p>\n “With the loss of Maddy you want to think of her at peace and that she’s okay.<\/p>\n “But it’s hard to picture her at peace now when there’s so much chaos surrounding her death.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There has been no official explanation for Maddy’s death, though police said at the time it was not considered suspicious<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her family has previously said she had no longstanding mental health issues, but faced financial pressures in the months before.<\/p>\n She also balanced her football career with a full-time marketing job at the club’s offices.<\/p>\n Maddy’s family has complained about “processes and conduct” at Sheffield United, including that of former women’s team manager Jonathan Morgan.<\/p>\n At a pre-inquest hearing in June<\/a>, Mr Morgan said witnesses put forward by the family were “one-sided” and requested permission to invite those with “an opposing view” to testify.<\/p>\n Coroner Sophie Cartwright, who is in charge of the inquest, said she would make a judgement on these issues before the full hearings.<\/p>\n All of that has made it “very difficult for the family to put those emotions to one side and deal with them properly”, Olivia says.<\/p>\n “Whilst you’re still in fighting mode, looking for that justice, it’s difficult to take your foot off the gas for a minute and actually think about what’s happened and come to terms with it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the meantime, Maddy’s family and friends have been looking for ways to pay a lasting tribute to her.<\/p>\n Former Sheffield United goalkeeper Nina Wilson remembers their time together at the club fondly.<\/p>\n “Maddy was Miss Sheff United,” she says.<\/p>\n “When I signed for Sheffield she came and met me in the car park at Bramhall Lane.<\/p>\n “I’d never met her before but it felt like we were already friends.”<\/p>\n Like Olivia, Nina also got a tattoo to remember Maddy. <\/p>\n Hers is an eight – the same number Maddy wore each time she stepped on to the pitch.<\/p>\n “It was emotional, something I wanted to do pretty much straight away,” says Nina.<\/p>\n “Everyone knows how much she loved that shirt.”<\/p>\n Nina, who has quit football since Maddy’s death, has called on Sheffield United to retire the shirt<\/p>\n “It would mean so much to her for that to always be her number,” she says.<\/p>\n Maddy’s family backs the campaign, which Nina describes as a way to keep her friend in people’s thoughts.<\/p>\n As the inquest gets further away, Nina says: “I do feel that her memory slowly fades away.<\/p>\n “And that’s why we fight so hard.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Since Maddy’s death, no-one else has worn the number eight shirt for Sheffield United Women – who play in the new WSL 2 league.<\/p>\n The club confirmed its fan advisory board had proposed retiring of Maddy’s shirt on two separate occasions.<\/p>\n But in a statement, it said: “We, as a club, feel that keeping the number in existence gives a reminder of whom has worn it previously and keeps Maddy’s memory alive.”<\/p>\n Sheffield United added that it had taken the same stance on defender George Baldock, who died in 2024 after spending seven years<\/a> at the club.<\/p>\n Plans to mark the second anniversary of Maddy’s death on 20 September at the side’s home game against Charlton Athletic are being finalised, the club said.<\/p>\n It also said “conversations can be had” about any lasting tributes once Maddy’s inquest concludes.<\/p>\n Until that day, Olivia has the tattoo as one lasting reminder of her sister. <\/p>\n “Anywhere I go, you’ll come with me. Anyone I meet, you’ll shake their hand,” she says.<\/p>\n If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this article, help and support is available <\/i>via BBC Action Line<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/cdda\/live\/762e4470-947a-11f0-ad7d-63b0f51784c5.jpg.webp\")
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