The Day The Clocks Stopped

Jun 17 2007 By Grace Macaskill

In a special report, we visit the shattered families of youngsters killed on Scotland's roads

THEY are the bedrooms where time has stood still... shrines to the young people who once filled them with so much life.Gillian Curran, 24, Grant Middlemiss, 15, and 19-year-old Emma Foster were all killed in needless road smashes.

But the thought of clearing their rooms has been too much for their families to bear.

Instead, their parents find comfort in preserving every detail, from the posters on the walls to the clothes in the wardrobe.

Today, in a Sunday Mail special, Grace Macaskill visits the families for whom time has stood still.
Clearing room would feel like a betrayal

GILLIAN CURRAN, 24. Died: December 16 2003, 6.30pm

Sandra and Pat Curran say they will never change their daughter's bedroom as it would be like removing her from their lives.

Thecouple were plunged into a "living nightmare" the day the 24-year-oldGillian failed to come home from work just before Christmas in 2003.

Gillian,who worked for the Inland Revenue, suffered massive head injuries whenanother driver rammed into the back of her stationary car. She died inhospital.

Her Citroen Saxo was turned into a fireball whenanother car ploughed into her as she waited in a queue of traffic inBellshill, Lanarkshire.

Her family, of nearby Coatbridge, have kept her bedroom exactly as she left it when she went to work on that fateful morning.

Both parents go into her room every day to speak to their daughter and pray for her.

Sandra, 47, said: "We have not touched anything in her room since she died, even the thousands of mass cards we received.

"I put the light on every night. I alsowash her bedclothes so they will be fresh for her coming in at night.

"We will never clear her room because it would feel like we are taking Gillian out of the house."

Sandra also takes comfort from sitting on Gillian's bed and holding her favourite teddy dog, which was in the car when she died.

Shesaid: "It has pride of place on her bed. I just wish she was here too."Sandra, who rarely leaves her home in case she is reminded of theaccident, said she longs to prevent the passage of time.

She added: "I don't want to remember birthdays or anniversaries because it means that time since Gillian died has passed.

"It is also painful to watch other people enjoy themselves because Gillian should be there with us."

Pat,48, a concierge, said: "I go into her room and pray several times a dayand I always say goodnight to her last thing at night. I also talk toher and keep her up to date with what's happening.

"The lastthree-and-a-half years are just a blur. She was such a happy, clevergirl and she had her own outlook on life. She will always be my specialwee gem."

Saleswoman Gillian Anderson, then 34, of Co. Durham, hit Gillian's car after losing concentration.

Andersonwas fined s500 and banned from driving for six months after admittingcareless driving but she has never apologised for the tragedy.

Sandra said: "That is almost as hard as the fact we have lost Gillian. You would never think a person could be so ruthless."

So many people are being killed on the roads today..it's likea silent holocaust

GRANT MIDDLEMISS, 15. Died: September 1 2005, 12.25am

Every day Mari Middlemiss goes into her only son's bedroom to say good morning.

Mariknows 15-year-old Grant will never return to the room with the Celticposters and Chris Sutton strip on the wall and aftershave on thebedside cabinet.

But the familiar sights and smell bring her a comfort she can barely describe.

Mari,48, said: "Sometimes the sun shines through the window a certain way, Iget the faint smell of his aftershave and it's like Grant is still here.

"Somany of my memories are of him sitting in this room with his friends.When he died, I just didn't want to use it for anything else. "Ihaven't even changed the bedding he slept in.

"His clothes are still in the wardrobe, including the clothes which were cut off him when he died.

"I know it sounds awful but his three older sisters wanted them back.

"Hedid his GSCEs a few months before he died and I promised him a newCeltic top if he passed. It's in the wardrobe hardly worn but stillsmells of his aftershave" Schoolboy Grant was killed in a smash inArdrossan, Ayrshire.

He was a back seat passenger in a car driven by 19-year-old David Bradley, who was doing 66mph in a 30mph chicane zone.

He was driving so fast that when he careered into a lamp-post, it snapped in two.

Grantsuffered a fractured skull and brain injuries and died in CrosshouseHospital, Kilmarnock Bradley was driving a hired Ford Fiesta rented byhis father and was not insured.

He was jailed for three years and three months but could be free by next Christmas.

Grant's family, of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, say they live daily with the pain of his death.

His father Grant Snr, 50, a printer, said: "It really galls me that Bradley was driving a hire car he should have never been in.

"In court, we heard he had his own Fiesta which was sitting in the driveway at his home.

"He was just showing off. It was an ego trip for him to drive the rented car.

"Every time a teenage boy is involved people assume they were boy racers, but that just wasn't the case with Grant.

"He got into a car with someone we never thought he would get into a car with.

"So many people are being killed on the roads today. It's like a silent holocaust."

She's not here in body but she's here in spirit

EMMA FOSTER, 19. Died: November 3, 2005 8.20PM

KEN and Chris Foster light candles in their dead daughter's bedroom every night and turn on the TV for her favourite programmes.

Thecouple say it helps keep her spirit alive. It is all they have left tocling on to after 19-year-old Emma was killed in a smash inAberdeenshire.

Ken, 58, and Chris, 54, of Silverhillocks,Banffshire, say the loss of their daughter, who had just got engaged,has torn the family apart and pushed them to the brink of suicide.

Ken said: "Emma's death is something we will never be able to cope with. We just have to deal with it as best we can.

"I go up to Emma's room every night and put the TV on for her and if it's cold we put the heating on.

"We are always talking to her. She might not be here in body but she is still here in spirit.

"Her room is more or less as she left it and as long as I am alive it will remain that way.

"I couldn't be one of those people who pack up everything and send it to a charity shop. That would really upset me."

Kenpainted Emma's room the Christmas after she was killed because she hadbeen saving up to do it herself but had never got round to it. And lastmonth, he bought a virtual fish tank for her room because Emma hadalways wanted one.

She died along with fiance Jonathon Gray, also 19, and their 24-year-old friend Stuart Johnston.

Tragic Emma, who worked in a RedCross charity shop, and Jonathon had only been engaged for a week.

Theboys had just picked upEmma from her parents' house and were taking herback to Jonathon's flat along the A947 Fyvie-Turriff road.

Their Nissan Micra exploded when a Ford Escort, trying to overtake a 4x4, ploughed into them in a headon smash.

Thedriver of the other car, 20-year-old John Wells, was convicted ofcareless driving by a jury after the original charge of dangerousdriving was found not proven.

He was fined s2000, banned from the road for three years and ordered to resit his test.

Kenand Chris have never come to terms with their only child's death andhave since campaigned relentlessly to stop other youngsters dying onour roads.

Chris, who has captured her emotions in a book ofpoems, plans to talk about her devastation to teenagers who are aboutto sit their driving tests.

She said: "We know we can't bring Emma back but if we can help save one life then it will have been worth it."