OUR BELOVED..

JUST three months ago, Alice da Silva Aguiar was "giddy" preparing for her first communion at St Patrick's Church in Southport.

- LUCY THORNTOL

Yesterday, her family had to endure the unbearable pain of returning to the same church for her funeral, their priest telling how Alice's parents believed their beautiful little girl had "gone dancing into heaven".

Dressed in white, Alice's mum and dad Alexandra and Sergio walked behind the horse-drawn carriage bearing their nine-year-old daughter's coffin. The crowds who lined the route blew bubbles, released balloons and applauded as the cortege passed by.

In the church, Alice's uncle Richard Lira read a letter from Sergio and Alexandra to their daughter.

They said: "You were our perfect dreamchild, everything was perfect from the moment you arrived. A good girl, with strong values and a kind nature, a lover of animals and an environmentalist in the making.

"You moved our world with your confidence and empathy. Playful, energetic, friendly and always so respectful. A peacemaker of the playground."