Beauty queen’s dad passes away

Mourning beloved one: Kimberley Ann and mum Jillian looking at a photograph of Stephen during the wake at their house in Tanjung Bungah.

GEORGE TOWN: Stephen Leggett, the father of Miss Universe Malaysia 2012 Kimberley Ann Estrop – Leggett passed away after losing a battle with a rare disease.

Stephen, 64, succumbed to necrotising fasciitis, an infection caused by bacteria that destroy skin, fat and the tissue covering muscles, on Monday morning.

He leaves behind wife Jillian Estrop, 55, and their only daughter Kimberley Ann, 23.

Kimberley Ann said the flesh eating bacteria infected her father on his leg about 18 months ago.

“Six months ago, his leg was amputated and his health then deteriorated,” she said at the wake yesterday.

“It has been hard all these months coping with my father’s illness.

“I was studying in Melbourne, Australia, when my father fell sick.

“I came back frequently to visit him and sometime stayed up to a month to help my mother.

“I’m sad he couldn’t make it to my graduation ceremony. I was supposed to graduate from university last year but I postponed it to this year,” she said.

Jillian remembered her husband as a loving and caring person but he was also a strict father.

“He always gave the best to the family,” she said.

Stephen’s funeral will be held on Friday at 3pm. The cortege will leave the family’s house in Hillside, Tanjung Bungah, for Batu Gantung for cremation.