Liam Payne’s Sister Nicola Says She’s Spent Days Hoping News of His Death Was a Mistake
Liam Payne’s sister Nicola Payne is reflecting on her little brother’s tragic death.
After the One Direction alum fell from the balcony of his hotel room in Argentina, Nicola detailed the moment she learned of the 31-year-old’s death through the media.
“When I saw the news pop up on my phone that you had left us I went cold, I wanted so much for this to be untrue,” the 36-year-old wrote in a statement to Liam on Instagram Oct. 21. “I have spent days hoping that it was a mistake and somebody has got it wrong. You were truly too good for this earth, you are an angel who just lived for making people smile and happy.”
“You have always shown kindness to everyone you met and it shows with just how many people have confirmed what we always knew,” she continued. “We don’t have many pictures together as we never really did that as a family, we never wanted you to feel like you were in a room of fans, but we were your biggest fans always and forever. Your talent alone puts you miles ahead, but also your being you.”
Now, she hopes he’s finally at rest.
“This cruel world is always too quick to judge someone,” Nicola added. “They think it entitles them to be able to speak like they know you. We knew you and we loved you. I hope you have finally found peace up there and you’ll continue to look after us all as you have done in life.”
Nicola also assured the family’s commitment to Liam and Cheryl Cole’s 7-year-old son Bear.
“We will make sure Bear knows about his daddy and how much you loved him,” she concluded. “We promise this.”
Liam was originally vacationing in Argentina with girlfriend Kate Cassidy. Though their trip was originally scheduled for five days, they stayed for two weeks until Kate flew home to Florida Oct. 12.
At the time of his fall, he appeared to have been alone, according to a press release from the Argentina National Prosecutor’s Office and had been “going through some kind of breakdown as a result of substance abuse.”
Investigators believe that “due to the position in which the body was left,” the singer, per the release, “did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself and that he could have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.”
While a toxicology report is pending, authorities shared in the release that they found “substances inside [Liam’s] room that at a first glance—and pending confirmation from the experts—would be narcotics and alcoholic beverages.”
Nicola Payne/InstagramAn autopsy report shared by officials found Liam’s cause of death to be “polytraumatism (multiple traumatic injuries), internal and external hemorrhage,” noting he had 25 injuries that were consistent with a fall from that height.
“The head injuries were sufficient to cause death,” authorities noted in the autopsy, “while the internal and external hemorrhages in the skull, thorax, abdomen and limbs contributed to the mechanism of death.”
Following his death, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and friends from around the world have spoken out to pay tribute, including his sister Ruth Gibbons.
“Liam is my best friend,” she wrote on Instagram Oct. 19. “No one could ever make me laugh as much as him, doing his impressions always had me creasing and he loved seeing how much of a laugh he could get.”
“Liam was born with music in his veins,” she continued. “It was clear from a very young age he just had that quality that would make him a star. I could sit and listen to him sing all day, which is a good job really because he never bloody stopped! I will never tire of the look he gives when showing new songs, ‘listen loud,’ he’d say and just grin with pride of his work.”
Amid her brother’s passing, she’s been riddled with guilt.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you,” she wrote. “One last time I need you to know, I’m here if you need anything, I’d drive to the end of the universe to bring you back.”
