Woman dubbed "the real life china doll" dies just four years after she defied the odds to marry the love of her life

A woman who was nicknamed the "real life china doll", because of how fragile she was, has died four years after defying the odds to marry the love of her life.

Rebecca Dinsdale, 35, died suddenly on a ferry from Liverpool to Northern Ireland and tributes have been pouring in from everyone who knew her.  

Four years ago, when Rebecca was 31, she left her wheelchair behind and walked down the aisle towards her groom Norman. The woman who stood at just 3ft 7 inches defied doctors who had told her she would never be able to stand unaided and took that brave step down the aisle. It was the longest distance she had ever walked. 

Rebecca was born with brittle bone disease and was unlikely to live past the age of two. She suffered hundreds of fractures, with some being triggered by a simple sneeze. She was always in excruciating pain but loved ones said she "never let anything hold her back."

Rebecca still attended a mainstream school in spite of her condition and was bullied, pointed at and laughed at in the street. But during her teens she went out clubbing, on shopping trips and holidays abroad. 

Just three days after her four year anniversary, her heartbroken husband said:  "My memory of our final night together is lovely. We munched on fruit pastilles and cuddled before going to sleep in our cabin. It was lovely really, very comfortable going to sleep with her like that as it always is."

Rebecca met Norman of MSN Messenger in 2005. The IT consultant from Belfast said at the time of the marriage: "It was the most amazing day. I'm so happy to call Becky my wife. I don't see her disability as an issue or as something that affects our relationship. She's perfect to me."

Her parents Andrew and Patsy Dixon said the death was "sudden" and was not related to brittle bone disease.  

"Rebecca had all the attributes you could want in a daughter - she was a perfect woman and would listen to anyone's troubles. She never let anything hold her back - and proved everyone wrong by walking and living on because she had that determination," said Mrs Dixon.