Page 77 - She's One Crazy Lady!

It was so very sad when, just a few weeks after the completion of
‘The Fraud Squad’, as the project was named, that one of my pupils,
Leanne, a talented artist and a very popular pupil who no doubt would
have excelled in later life, was tragically killed one night, not far from
the school, when boy racers sped by and hit her and her mum as they
were innocently walking their dog. The dog was unhurt and found its
way home. Leanne’s mum was very seriously injured, and Leanne had
been thrown some thirty/forty yards into a nearby copse and was not
immediately found. We were notified by the police that evening and “ although several of her friends and other children in the school knew
the following morning, I will never forget having to break the news to those who did not. David and I stood in the playground to meet the children and parents and we gave them as much time as was needed when we sat in the classroom together. We laid flowers at the site, and I read at Leanne’s funeral – undoubtedly, one of the hardest and saddest tasks I had to do in my teaching career, but sadly, not the last.
At a parents evening I met Liz Swan. Liz and her husband, Chris, had recently moved from Leicester and their daughter, their only child, Emma, was in my class. Emma had told me her mum played tennis so, during the short time we had to discuss Emma’s progress, the subject of tennis came up. Liz was looking for a good club to join so I suggested she came along to Higham Ferrers, where I was currently playing. Liz was an excellent player and was soon snapped up for the ladies’ team, partnering myself and becoming the fourth player of our strong team. Together, with Heather Smith and Margaret Ward, we were quite a foursome and enjoyed much success in the local leagues and tournaments and had many fierce games against each other. Liz and her family also became very good friends, and I was invited to join them on two lovely holidays; one in a very rural part of France and another in the Algarve in Portugal – they were a much-travelled family.
We remained friends and played tennis long after Emma left Whitefriars. Imagine my shock and horror when, one Friday afternoon, I received a phone call from a distraught Liz, telling me Emma had been killed in a car crash, just a couple of miles away from her house, on her way home from school, having just received her A Level results, which were sitting on the passenger seat. A driver, apparently under the influence, came over the brow of a nasty hill, on the wrong side of the road, and hit Emma’s car head on. Emma stood no chance. I remember going into the Care
Leanne, a talented artist and a very popular pupil who no doubt would have excelled in later life, was tragically killed one night, not far from the school. ”
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