Girl, 4, accidentally hangs herself from tree in freak accident just days after becoming a big sister to twins
OXFORDSHIRE, UK: A 4-year-old girl accidentally hanged herself in a tree shortly after becoming a sister to twins.
Little Freya Thorpe’s mother has now spoken about her unimaginable grief following the tragedy.
The girl was wearing a bicycle helmet when she went up a tree near her home in Upper Heyford back in September of 2019, according to South West News Service.
Suddenly, she slipped and fell but the strap of her helmet got stuck on the tree and she lost her life despite the efforts of medics.
“I am a broken individual, caught in a hellstorm of grief,” Freya’s mom Elise said, according to the The Sun.
“We live every day and night in hell, torture, sheer shock and grief that can’t be comprehended,” she added.
The heartbroken mother told SWNS that she and her husband “were on cloud nine after the long-awaited arrival and difficult pregnancy” of their twins Kiera and Zack.
Elise said that she would have taken her own life had she not given birth 10 days prior to the death of her child.
“A brother and sister that Freya had awaited so patiently for nine long and difficult months to become a big sister,” the heartbroken mother said.
“In the early afternoon daddy had to go off to collect the special milk from Boots Pharmacy in Cowley for the twins as they were allergic to cows’ milk,” she added.
The child had been invited to play at a house nearby on a cul-de-sac where parents “‘confidently let their children out to play,” Elise said.
But on that tragic day, Freya ventured outside without her mother knowing.
“I had a gut feeling I wanted her home. Shortly after, I saw an ambulance at the end of the road – I panicked, at the time not knowing why I was panicking,” she told SWNS.
“I called my husband to say I was going to get her back from the house behind. He said, ‘No, I’m five minutes away, stay with the babies,’” Elise said.
“I saw his car go past and not return from the little cul-de-sac. I knew something was wrong,” she added.
As soon as she saw her husband with a firefighter, she took the children and ran out to see medics desperately trying to save her daughter.
After waiting at John Radcliffe Hospital for two days, the parents were told their daughter would not make it.
“I never stepped foot inside my home again. This is something I also lost and miss to this day — my home,” Elise said.
“Had I not given birth only 10 days before we would have taken our lives in the hospital that night, without a shadow of a doubt,” the mother continued.
“We have had so much support over the last 18 months and we can’t tell you all how much that’s helped us through and for that I can never thank everyone enough for the support, kind words and donations – even from those we’ve never met,” she said.
“But we’ve also experienced scrutiny and abuse from people who’ve asked, ‘Where were the parents? How could they let her out alone?’” she added.
“It has caused family rifts from relatives and judgment all because people didn’t know Freya wasn’t in our care when this happened.”
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