The Worst Day Of Our Lives

Christine Foster

2005

Wednesday 2nd November 2005 was just like any ordinary day, our daughter Emma was getting ready for her fiancé and their best friend to come and pick her up and take her over to Aberdeen.

At 7:45pm they all left, full of the joys of spring.

At 9:45pm the police came to the house and told us that Emma had been involved in a road traffic accident, she had been taken to Aberdeen Royal infirmary, they wouldn't or couldn't tell us anything about Stuart and Jonathan.

We had to pass the crash on our way to the hospital, all we could see were blue and orange flashing lights and the noise was deafening.

We arrived at the hospital and taken to a relatives room where a nurse stayed with us, soon after one of the doctors came and told us that Emma was in surgery, we asked what was wrong with her, she told us the extent of Emma's injuries and said that she was very ill and that she may not come through the surgery, she had less than 1% chance of survival.

For hours and hours we waited, they came to us and told us that Emma had survived the surgery and that she was being taken up to the high dependency unit and we should go up there and wait.

The surgeon who operated on Emma came to see us, we found out then that Jonathan and Stuart had both died, we were heartbroken.

The surgeon took us into Emma's room, she was wired up to machines, there was a tube coming out of her mouth and it was pumping blood out from her lungs, she was also on a life support machine.

We asked how long would it take for her to come round, and we were told that she wouldn't, then we asked how long did she have left to live, days, weeks, months or years, we were told ...... minutes.

We asked who would have to make the decision to turn off the life support machine, as we couldn't make that decision, how could you decide when the time is right for your own daughter to die?

They told us that nobody would decide, she would die on her own.

We sat by the side of her bed talking to her, trying to bring her round, telling her that we loved her, but, three minutes after us walking into her room, she left us.

A single tear came from her eye and that's it... she was gone, our beautiful, beautiful daughter taken from us at 19 years old.

We wanted to bring her home, nurse her back, she hadn't died, she was only asleep, she wanted her mum and dad, we just couldn't believe it ... our baby .... gone.

Emma was cremated on 17th November, one week before her 20th birthday.

Stuart is interred at Clovery Woods Resting Place, Jonathan is interred at Fraserburgh Cemetary and we have had Emma's ashes placed in the same lair as Jonathan so they are both together forever.