Perth mum Milica Pudney dies suddenly – leaving behind her husband to raise their kids alone
Mother Milica Pudney from Perth suddenly dies, leaving her husband to raise their children alone
A Perth mother has passed away unexpectedly, leaving her devastated husband to raise their two young children alone.
Mother-of-two and photo studio owner Milica Pudney passed away on Aug. 25, sparking a flood of tributes. The cause of her death is currently unknown.
Her husband Tony is currently preparing for the funeral and making sure their children, who are five and two years old, are well taken care of.
He also arranges for her body to be transported to her birthplace in Serbia.
Mrs. Pudney’s sister-in-law, Molly, has set up an online fundraiser to help with funeral expenses and living expenses.
Photo studio owner Milica Pudney died unexpectedly on August 25
Milica Pudney (pictured with her family) is survived by two young children aged five and two
“As some of you may know, Tony Milica lost unexpectedly last Friday the 25th,” she wrote.
“Since then, he has had to raise the money to get her back to her hometown in Serbia, along with all the funeral expenses and living expenses.
‘Because this was unexpected, no life insurance had been taken out, so he has to come up with the money himself.
“Now that very young children are facing a life without their mothers, any donation to help ease the financial burden will be greatly appreciated.”
The fundraiser raised nearly $30,000 in three days.
Mr Pudney was on holiday in Serbia when he met his future wife at the Exit music festival.
He was a forestry and logging subcontractor, and she was a freshman law student and part-time model.
“We were completely different people living on opposite sides of the planet,” Ms Pudney captioned their 2015 wedding video.
“We thought it would just be a summer adventure while he was on vacation in Serbia, but it wasn’t. Life had a different plan for us. We couldn’t let it go and we promised each other that we would do something about it.’
Milica put her career as a lawyer on hold to raise a family and pursue her passion for photography
Their summer romance grew into a long-distance relationship and for the next two years they traveled between Australia and Serbia to visit each other before Mr. Putney proposed when he arrived at Belgrade airport for a visit in July 2014.
The couple married the following year and moved to Australia.
After the birth of her son in 2018, she put her career as a lawyer on hold to pursue her passion for portrait photography in the visual arts and founded Arabella Blue Portraits.
‘All my life I thought I would become a lawyer and do photography as a hobby. Now it looks like it will be the other way around,” Ms Pudney recalled in 2019.
“I wanted to do something that would give me enough freedom to be my own boss, create things on my own terms, and have enough free time to spend with my son. I let the creative side of me lead and I really found my place!’
Her goal at the time was to become a “master photographer” and expand her business worldwide.
Mrs. Pudney’s work has been inundated with rave reviews from customers online.
Her sudden death has sparked an outpouring of tributes.
‘Why! I am so very sad about this news! I am so happy that she spent the past year with her loved ones in her beloved Serbia and explored part of Europe! We were just talking about it when she was planning it! I’m so sorry…my heart is broken for her little family,” a friend wrote.
A fundraiser to support Milica Pudney’s family raised nearly $30,000 in just a few days.