Sheffield Keeley: Friends hold vigil at shrine to tragic TikTok personality found unconscious in city centre
A shrine to ‘Sheffield Keeley’ with flowers, photos and candles has been created at the site where she collapsed.
A bus stop on Arundel Gate has become a colourful memorial to a character who was well known on the streets and on social media platform TikTok.
Bunches of flowers, tributes and two photos of the 34-year-old have been tied to the shelter, with bottles, vapes and candles arranged on the ground below.
On Thursday afternoon a steady stream of people stopped to take photos, with some chatting to a group of her friends and acquaintances who were keeping vigil.
A man, who said he was a school friend, said: “She was loved.”
Emergency services were called to Arundel Gate at 6.30pm on Tuesday, January 15 after a woman, named locally as Keeley Thornton, was found unconscious.
A man reportedly carried out CPR until an ambulance arrived, but she was sadly pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. She was 34 and believed to have been a mother-of-two.
‘Sheffield Keeley’, as she was called on TikTok, was known for videos of her singing and dancing in Sheffield city centre.
As well as sadness, support organisation The Archer Project expressed anger at those who “paid her to perform drunk on social media for likes,” including swimming in fountains in the middle of winter.
At the shrine, one tribute said: ‘Keeley, can’t believe ya gone. Gunna miss you mate. Keep singin, keep dancing. Love ya mate. Fly like a bird. Love Simmo x’
Keeley sang the Nelly Furtado song, I’m Like A Bird, in one video which many have mentioned in tributes.
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On Tuesday, a coat and two medical bags were visible inside the police cordon.
On Thursday, what appeared to be the same brown coat with furry trim was draped over a nearby railing.
South Yorkshire Police have arrested a 47-year-old woman on suspicion of administering a noxious substance.
A GoFundMe page has been launched to raise money for Keeley’s family, here.