Jane Flay, of Puffin Close, in Minehead, had been running Janey’s Café in Fore Street, Williton, for four years. Throughout Covid she became a local hero after she delivered meals to elderly and vulnerable people free of charge. Regulars at the café say they’ve lost ‘a dear friend’.
Daughter Jess Freeman said: “We are not letting this place go. She built it up from nothing and we have said there’s no chance that we will give it up. It’s what she would want us to do.”
A hairdresser, Jess has now joined the café full-time to work alongside her stepdad Ryan Flay. The family say they are still in a state of ‘shock and disbelief’ at Jane’s sudden death.
Customer Ann Perry said: “I miss her terribly. She was more of a friend, very kind-hearted and considerate. She would do anything for us. There’s never going to be another Jane.”
The funeral took place yesterday (Thursday June 30) at Taunton crematorium with a party to celebrate her life afterwards at Minehead District Social Club.
Jess said: “She had always told us I don’t want you to be sad when I go. She believed in living life to the full.”
Jane collapsed at her home in Minehead on the evening of Wednesday June 1. She had gone to her daughter’s room complaining of a pain in her shoulder and arm. Husband Ryan was on an evening shift as a shelf filler at supermarket Morrisons at the time. It quickly became clear she was having a heart attack and Jess and her partner Sam Smith called 999 as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Sam then attempted to revive Jane following instructions from the emergency responder on the phone, while Jess comforted her younger brother.
In a dramatic attempt to save her, an ambulance, already carrying a patient, was diverted to the house and the paramedics carried out CPR while their patient was transferred to a second ambulance which arrived shortly afterwards. Meanwhile, the air ambulance landed in the open field opposite the Duck estate in Minehead. Jane was taken to Taunton’s Musgrove Park hospital where she underwent emergency surgery but sadly the next morning the family received the news they had dreaded.
Son, Jordan Phippen, had been with his mother in the afternoon before she collapsed and taken pictures of her washing his new-born son, Clinton. She seemed in good form.
She was a diabetic, but it was well managed, and she had lost weight. She was on her feet for six days a week in the café and seemed in good health. She’d had her four Covid shots.
Jordan said: “We still can’t believe it. She was the backbone of the family. She was always ready to give advice. If you had a problem, she was there for you.”
When Sam Smith, originally from Chesterfield, came down to Minehead four years ago, he was only going to stay for three months.
He said: “We would wind each other up all the time but it was all in fun. She loved a good laugh. She absolutely lived for this place too. She was amazing.”
The family decided to raise money for a defibrillator for their estate in Minehead as the nearest one was ten minutes away at the hospital. They launched a Gofundme page – Defibrillator in memory of Jane Flay - and have already raised enough for one and are now aiming for a second.
Jane Flay had three sons and a daughter, and two grandchildren with a third on the way.