The following is a statement on behalf of Natallia and Carmine, Sharon's mum and dad:
Our hearts are broken following the passing of our beautiful daughter Sharon Maccanico.
Sharon was born in Italy. At age 3, she moved to Australia and at age 8, moved to New Zealand.
This was where her passion for dance began. Sharon wanted to be a professional dancer, and she would often practice for hours every day.
She participated in seven solo competitions at regional and national level and won all seven. Last year she also won an international competition in Belarus.
We gave her all the support we could and were so proud to watch her work towards achieving her dreams.
We had the most amazing relationship with Sharon, from the day she was born, she was loved by all.
Our family is a very close family and always did everything together.
Sharon and Natallia had a bond like no other, and were best friends. Sharon felt comfortable to talk to her about everything and had a very close relationship with both her parents.
Sharon has an older sister in Belarus, who no matter how far apart they were, would always remain in close contact and had such a strong bond.
She was very close to her family in Italy and would often call home and talk to everybody for hours.
Her teacher at school always told us that she was the heart of the class because of her strong energy.
She made so many people happy and touched so many lives. We loved that she had the ability to get along with absolutely anyone.
Sharon was very well respected and had a great sense of humour.
One year ago, Sharon met the love of her life Max. They very quickly formed a strong relationship.
Max became a treasured part of our family, and he looked after Sharon and made her feel so special.
We would like to thank everybody that has reached out to our family and sent kind messages.
We have been so well supported, and we would like to especially thank all the people who have worked so hard to bring Sharon back to us.
We also want to express our gratitude to the community, local iwi, and all the people who have been beside us through this difficult time. We are very grateful for their support.
