Ayesha Lily Srivastava

Obituary

Ayesha was born at the RWH in Melbourne to parents Susanne Beevers (born in UK in 1965) and Manoj Srivastava (born in India in 1973). Manoj and Sue met in Melbourne and married in 2004, Ayesha was born in Oct of 2005.

Unfortunately Ayesha was born with a very rare vascular disease- Fibro Muscular Dysplasia- and as a result suffered 3 strokes before she was 2. This led to her being non verbal and PEG fed with epilepsy and spastic quadriplegia.

Ayesha grew up loved and supported by her parents in Wyndham Vale, Maidstone and Sunshine in Melbournes Western suburbs before moving to Geelong when she was 19 with them.

Ayesha enjoyed going to school at Glenroy Special school and loved being around other people. Although she couldn't communicate, her big smiles and joy for experiencing all that life had to offer was infectious and inspirational.

Ayesha loved being with her family and friends the most but also loved going swimming and riding bikes, especially very fast. She also loved slapstick humour and could be guaranteed to laugh if you tripped or coughed!

Ayesha spent a lot of her life at the Royal Children's Hospital but never let this dampen her spirit loving the attention she got from the nurses and Drs.

Ayesha loved watching Play school, Hi 5 and the Fairies well into her teens but when she discovered YouTube she loved to watch videos of gymnastics, ballet, Indian classical dancing, circuses and hula hooping. In the last few years of her life she discovered 'Dance with Deepti' and some hindu prayer songs and mantras which she loved.

Ayesha made lost of new friends in Geelong at GenU, Scope and Inclusion Way, and loved exploring the area with her new support workers and friends.

Sadly the arteries in Ayesha's abdomen started shutting down in late 2024 and she passed away in Geelong hospital April 2025. She is incredibly missed by her parents, family and friends. She will forever be remembered for her smile that lit up a room and her sense of fun. She was quite simply, an inspiration.

"Say not in grief that she is no more, but say in thankfulness that she was.
A death is not the extinguishing of a light, but the putting out of the lamp because the dawn has come"