An aspiring lawyer and taekwondo world champion, Isabelle Sava, has tragically died at the age of 19.
Sava, a black belt and law student at Queen Mary University of London in Mile End, East London, was reportedly found dead in her sleep last week.
She is believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest while sleeping.
Emergency responders found the teenager unconscious in her bed and made desperate attempts to resuscitate her. Despite their efforts, she could not be revived and was subsequently pronounced dead.
Sava was the only child of Laura and Ovi Sava.
A family friend, Adriana Agache, has since launched a fundraising campaign to support the grieving family.
In a statement on the fundraising page, Agache described Isabelle’s death as a devastating loss, saying her parents were facing “every parent’s worst nightmare” following the sudden death of their only daughter.
She said emergency services, including ambulance and air ambulance teams, had fought desperately to save Isabelle but were ultimately unsuccessful.
“Nineteen years was nowhere near enough. A beautiful young woman with an extraordinary future, Isabelle had her whole life ahead of her,” the statement read.
According to the fundraiser, Isabelle was preparing to begin her second year studying LLB Law at Queen Mary University of London, a Russell Group institution, with ambitions of becoming a commercial lawyer.
She was actively involved in university life, participating in the Law Society, Commercial Awareness Society and Student Advancement Society. She also worked as a student blog writer for the Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre.
Her passion for law had already begun to show through her work. In 2026, an article she wrote was published by the Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre, an achievement described as remarkable for someone at the early stages of her university career.
The fundraiser said Isabelle was committed to gaining legal experience and developing herself for the career she hoped to pursue.
An investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death is ongoing.
