WHEN Sarah Bouasker innocently shared a snap of the haul of presents she’s bought for her daughter, nothing could have prepared her for the backlash she’d receive.

The mum-of-one has splashed out £1,000 on gifts for 18-month-old Alaya, and posted a video to TikTok after seeing a trend for showing off your Christmas shopping.

Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter

But she was inundated with dozens of hurtful comments, with trolls claiming Alaya will grow up a “spoilt brat”.

Others accused stay-at-home mum Sarah, 29, from Chester, Cheshire of being a “benefits fraudster” after she admitting she couldn’t fit the pile of presents under her Christmas tree.

The mum-of-one has forked out more than £1,000 in toys alone, along with bundles of clothes, but is still picking up bits.

She admits she can’t bring herself to count how many presents her daughter will have to open.

The pile of gifts reaches from floor to ceiling, and has taken her weeks to wrap.

But Sarah tells The Sun she’d hoped her video might be useful for other parents to give them ideas for what to buy – and there’s a heartbreaking reason why she spoils her little girl so much.

“I wasn’t trying to brag or show off,” she says.

“One person told me I was trying to buy my daughter’s love instead of showing her real love, which was really devastating.

“I’ve had loads of comments with people saying she will grow up a spoilt brat and then I’ll regret it.

“Other people called me a benefits fraudster because I don’t work.”

And it’s not just strangers – Sarah has even received criticism from her own family.

She says: “A family member even posted saying, ‘I feel like I’d be better off quitting the job I love to live on benefits’ after seeing my haul.

“But I don’t even get benefits – my husband earns a really good wage working as a production technician so we’re not eligible for any.

“When I’ve been upset about it, another family member told me I’d made my bed, now I have to lie in it – implying I’d brought the hate on myself.

“It was so upsetting. I don’t reply to any of the comments, I just block them.

“I’ve explained my reasons, and I’ve also had so many lovely messages from people who are so supportive.”

Sarah says the reason she lavishes her daughter with so many presents is that, tragically, she doesn’t know how many Christmases she has left.

She was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and underwent surgery when she was just 18 months old – the same age her daughter is now.

Then in 2017, aged 24, she was told a valve in her heart needed replacing with a mechanical one, and the medication she would need to take to have the operation would mean she’d never be able to have children.

Devastated, Sarah begged doctors to help her and they managed to temporarily repair her heart valve to give her just enough time to fall pregnant and give birth to Alaya in May 2021.

Sarah says: “When I was told I needed surgery that would stop me from having children, I was absolutely broken.

“I just broke down in the hospital. The surgeons said they would do their best to temporarily repair my valve to give me the time to have a baby, and I’m so grateful to them.

“I knew it wouldn’t last forever though.”

Sarah’s latest check-up showed her condition has deteriorated and she will now need to be fitted with a mechanical valve.

As doctors say they don’t know what her future will look like, she is determined to make every Christmas as special as possible for her family.

Sarah, who used to work in a nursery and in retail before her condition forced her to stop, says: “I have had so many comments from people telling me I am spoiling her, but those people don’t need to worry about whether they will have another Christmas.

“I don’t know what’s round the corner, but I do know I want to create as many special memories with Alaya and document them so she will always have them to look back on.

“We do special photoshoots for Easter, Halloween and Valentine’s Day too.”

‘Toy rotation’

Sarah has bought Alaya everything from a scooter to jigsaws and dozens of toys of her favourite characters.

And she admits the tot could still be opening gifts into the new year.

Sarah adds: “I’m planning to do a toy rotation so she doesn’t get overwhelmed by them all.

“I’ll put them all under the tree on Christmas day but I will only give her the ones I know she will be most excited by then.

“She doesn’t have a lot of family buying for her, just us, so she probably won’t get much more.

“I admit when I put it all out in one room, even I was taken aback by how much there was.

I admit when I put it all out in one room, even I was taken aback by how much there was

Sarah Bouasker

“I just want to give her the best Christmas I possibly can, and I don’t see anything wrong with that.

“I can’t wait to see her face light up on Christmas morning when she sees all the presents under the tree.

“I just want to make her happy and really celebrate every occasion.

“People who judge me should take time to think that they don’t know everybody’s situation.

“Do your own child’s Christmas how you want to and let everyone else get on with theirs.”