A young Aussie mum whose baby son died two days ago has tragically gone from choosing what bed to buy him to picking out his little coffin for his funeral.
Kimberley Summer Hartley, better known as Veruca Salt, on Wednesday shared a photo on Instagram of a child coffin catalogue along with a heartbreaking caption.
‘When I was choosing what bed to buy for him, I didn’t think I would have to choose one of these,’ she wrote.
Ms Hartley loved being a mother so much she wanted to have ten kids with her baby’s father – a British man she met at a music festival.
But the heavily tattooed influencer announced to her social media followers on Tuesday that her six-week-old son Cash had died in his sleep.
Long before the tragedy, Ms Hartley had been very open about her colourful past – something she had put behind her since becoming a mum.
Queensland influencer Veruca Salt, whose real name is Kimberley Summer Hartley, is pictured with her baby son Cash, who tragically died on Monday morning
She previously spoke to Daily Mail Australia about her court appearances, her difficult upbringing, and the ups and downs of her life in the sex industry.
Ms Hartley moved to Australia from New Zealand when she was three years old, but has a strained relationship with her parents.
In 2019, she was reported missing when she vanished from a wedding in Surfers Paradise, did not reply to her friends’ texts and calls, and reappeared 1,000km away at the Desires brothel in Wollongong, NSW, a few days later.
The young Aussie mum has tragically gone from choosing what bed to buy her son to picking out his little coffin for his funeral (pictured)
In an interview, she explained she lost her phone at the wedding but did not have time to look for it because she had to race down to NSW for work.
She had no idea she was a missing person or that police had appealed to the public to find her.
It was also during that conversation that she went public with her profession for the first time.
‘I’m not ashamed of telling people I’m a sex worker,’ she said at the time.
‘But I’m a pretty private person, and letting the whole world in on my biggest secret scares me.’
At the same time, a warrant was issued for her arrest because she had failed to appear in court on charges she had allegedly stole $8,015 worth of family heirlooms from a home in Eastgardens in December 2018.
She pleaded not guilty to larceny and stealing property in a house in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court. The charges were dismissed.
Ms Hartley, using the name Veruca Salt, started an OnlyFans account during the Covid pandemic, started making $15,000 a month and never looked back.
Ms Hartley broke down in a TikTok video on Wednesday (pictured), two days after Cash died
She shocked the influencer community when she announced her baby’s death on Instagram
Her social media following swelled to about a million across TikTok and Instagram and she became very open about her life, her profession and, eventually, her new role as a mum.
When she announced her pregnancy in June last year, the 25-year-old’s social media content quickly changed from daily musings and vlogs about her sexual encounters to baby updates and preparations.
She rented a new home in Southport, decorated his nursery, bought a bespoke rug for her baby, shared photos of the day she was induced, and posted a video of him just hours after his birth.
She never revealed the identity of Cash’s father, but instead dropped a series of clues.
In her TikTok videos, she said the man was from London and of Jamaican heritage, they met at a music festival, and had only ever spent about 12 hours together before she realised she was pregnant with his son.
After Cash was born, she shared screenshots a conversation in which she told him she wanted ‘ten’ more children with him. He replied: ‘See how you go with one.’
She was open about her plans to have a large family with the same man, but said she did not see herself being in a romantic relationship with him because she does not trust men.
Ms Hartley announced Cash’s death in an Instagram post on Tuesday afternoon.
Veruca Salt (pictured) is an influencer with about a million followers on Instagram and TikTok
‘It is with a heavy heart that I’m writing this. My baby died in his sleep on Monday morning,’ she wrote.
‘I don’t know what happened, he is having an autopsy this week but it is unlikely that I’ll ever have an answer.
‘I’m just saying this because people are still commenting on my TikToks saying how happy I look with him and “just wait for the toddler stage” and stuff, and I really can’t take it anymore. I’m really sorry.’
In the early hours of Wednesday, Ms Hartley shared a bittersweet video of the smiling newborn.
She could be heard saying: ‘Oh, my gosh, I love you so much. Do you know that? Do you know how much I love you?’
The video was captioned with a heartbroken emoji.
Hours later, she broke down and cried in a new TikTok video.
Queensland Police are investigating Cash’s death but the situation is not being treated as suspicious.