Claire gone far too soon

CLAIRE Smith adored her family and her friends."They were her whole world. If Claire was tight with you, she was really tight with you,'' her husband David Sneddon said yesterday."She was especially close to her dad. He was everything to her and she was everything to him.''Claire was only 34 when she passed away in The Alfred hospital from a heart aneurism on Thursday.Ambulance Victoria's air ambulance was forced to land at the City Oval on Wednesday as Claire was too ill to be transported too far by road from Ballarat Health Services Base Hospital, reigniting the debate for a hospital helipad.Yesterday, David paid tribute to the wife he met in a Ballarat nightclub and married in Las Vegas 10 years later."She was just wonderful."She loved her family, father John, sister Kelly, her nieces Darcy and Georgia and her nephews Jasper and Tully."She also loved her friends, spending time with her friends, drinking with her friends.''Claire's other two loves were music and roller derby."We learnt from one another about music. We'd go to concerts, festivals, go and see bands in Melbourne. She just loved listening to music,'' David said, citing You Am I as her favourite band.Her most recent passion was roller derby, which she'd taken up only a couple of years ago."She had an old pair of skates hanging around and a friend down the road was into roller derby so she tried it and loved it."She loved the physicality of it, she used to call it the 'smashy smashy'.''Claire's roller derby nickname was Becky Bloodnut, in tribute to her uncle who died around the time she took up the sport and who called her bloodDHnut due to her hair."Claire was famous for her long, red hair.''Claire also loved AFL football and her favourite player was Sydney Swans midfielder Brett Kirk who announced his retirement on the day Claire passed away."She used to wear 31 as her roller derby number in tribute to Brett.''Ballarat Roller Derby League media officer Mabel Stark said Claire would be sadly missed."She loved the sport, she even came to training sessions when she was injured,'' she said."She was much loved and she'll be much missed by all of us now.''