The family of a fun-loving fashion designer who died following a freak accident have paid tribute to their beloved daughter and sister.

Tansy Stowell was living her dream in New York when she died suddenly last Tuesday.

Originally from Trottiscliffe near West Malling, the 28-year-old was found by her boyfriend bleeding from her head in the early hours.

She had fallen from her loft bed.

Emergency services rushed to her apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and she was taken to a nearby hospital, but could not be saved.

Her parents Sally and Stephen, and siblings Jonathan and Holly, who last saw Tansy in April at a family wedding in London, paid tribute to their “beautiful, one-of-a-kind and desperately loved daughter and sister”.

They said: “It goes without saying we are utterly heartbroken. She was living the most fantastic, full, and colourful life.

“Although she is physically no longer here, she packed more into her 28 years than most of us will in a lifetime. She truly lived life to the max and we are so very honoured to have been a part of her world.”

Tansy attended Walthamstow Hall girls school in Sevenoaks, Mid-Kent College, and the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) in Rochester before setting up her own business, Tansy Lea Millinery, in 2012.

She moved to The Big Apple to follow her dreams of a career in fashion, and attended the world-renowned Parsons School of Design where she achieved a Masters in fashion studies, graduating in May last year.

She had also recently completed further studies at Columbia University, and was applying to do a PhD.

Her sister, Holly Reeves, said: “We were fiercely proud of her as a sister and daughter. She was wildly talented and living her dream.

“Lots of people talk about following their dreams, but she actually did it.”

She was cremated on Monday in her second home of New York.

Her family also plans to host an event to celebrate her life back home, most likely on her birthday in September.