Мать погибшей от удара током 17-летней девушки запустила жесткую кампанию по безопасности на железной дороге

Rachel’s vibrant daughter Jade, 17, had a promising future, when a snap decision on a night out led to tragedy… Stirring butter and sugar in a bowl, I reached into the cupboard for the flour to make fairy cakes. Glancing at my gorgeous twin girls Jade and Josie, 13, I caught a cheeky glint in their eyes. Before long, we were flinging flour at each other, laughing hysterically and leaving the kitchen looking like it had been in a blizzard! Later, after helping to clean up the mess, Jade snuggled up to me on the sofa. ‘That was so much fun, Mum,’ she smiled. From a young age, Jade and her identical twin would get into mischief, from escaping out of their cots as toddlers to pretending to be the other one at school and confusing their teachers. The twins were fiercely loyal and protective of each other. They also cherished their brother Solly, who was 16 months younger. But life wasn’t always perfect. Like most families, the kids bickered and we fell out but through it all, we loved each other. Bubbly Jade – the eldest by 14 minutes – grew into a talented dancer and budding photographer. She loved arranging photo shoots for her pals and would gift them albums she’d made. One day, I asked Jade what she wanted to do for her gap year. ‘I’d like to help orphaned children,’ she said, while Josie wanted to work with animals. My heart burst with pride at my daughters’ caring natures. When Jade was 17, she passed her art exam and had planned to go out and celebrate with her friends. Only when I got home from work that evening and opened the front door, Jade wasn’t home. ‘I missed the last train home’ Worried, I called her throughout the night, but my phone stayed silent. I’d had a stressful day and slowly, my worry grew into irritation. At 10pm, Jade finally called. ‘I missed the last train home,’ she said. I’d usually always go and pick her up, but I was tired and annoyed. So, for the first time ever, I told her to get a taxi home, knowing she had the number saved on her phone and I’d pay when she arrived. Only, 10 minutes later, I regretted my decision. I tried to get through to Jade, but she wasn’t picking up her phone and I jumped in the car. As I was driving, I noticed a fire engine and Jodie’s friend standing behind it. A wave of sickness washed over me. I just knew something was wrong with my daughter. Stopping the car in the middle of the road, I started screaming. ‘What’s happened?’ I cried, making a beeline for the nearest police officer. As he took me aside, my world shattered. ‘I’m so sorry, but she’s gone,’ he said. I crumbled as I tried to grasp that my daughter, my first-born, was dead. People were talking but I could no longer understand what they were saying. ‘Can I go to her?’ I asked. ‘It’s not possible to see her,’ he said. ‘I’m so sorry, but she’s gone’ He couldn’t give me any more details, and I was in such a state, the police took me home. Later, officers came round to explain what had happened as my family gathered in the front room. They told us that after Jade had a couple of ciders with her friends, she made the decision to walk along railway tracks. She hadn’t run onto the tracks, but she’d died after an electrical current from the ‘third’ or live rail – typically to the side of the track - had travelled to her heart. Police believed she may have slipped and lost her shoe, and the high voltage had pulled her in. I was in disbelief that she’d strayed near the tracks. Although Jade could be mischievous, she was never unruly. She hadn’t realised the dangers, I thought, reeling in shock. And neither had I. I’d taught her about road safety, but it hadn’t occurred to me to warn her about the risk of being near railways, even if you weren’t actually on the tracks. ‘If someone had got to her quicker, could she have survived?’ I asked. But the officer said she was likely to have died instantly. All I felt was utter devastation and I just couldn’t register that I’d never see her beautiful blue eyes or hear her laughter again. I was also wracked with guilt. ‘If I’d got in the car, she’d still be here,’ I told my partner, Solly. ‘As her mum, I was meant to protect her.’ My family didn’t blame me, and my logical brain knew she’d made that choice, but it was a decision I’d be haunted by for the rest of my life. For a long time, I’d believed Jade would walk through the door. Some nights, I’d dream about her and for a moment when I woke, I’d think she was still alive, before the crushing truth hit. Jade’s funeral passed in a tear-stained blur. They had to shut the roads because so many people wanted to pay their respects. A year after her death, British Transport Police got in touch and asked if I’d be willing to share Jade’s story for a rail safety campaign. ‘If it spares one family the pain we’re going through, I’ll do it,’ I said. The more research I did, the more I realised how the railways were full of hidden dangers. Most people knew to tell their children to stay off the tracks in case they were hit by a train or electrocuted by overhead power lines. But very few people knew that some trains were powered by the third or live rail, which was the one that killed Jade. It was always turned on and carried 750 volts of electricity. I hadn’t known about it, otherwise I’d have told my children. I worked with MPs to educate young people about rail safety, better signage and the dangers of trespassing on railways. As the years passed, and new generations of social media-savvy children needed to be reached, the campaigns evolved. Kids were more attuned to games with violent graphics and didn’t understand death in the same way. So when, nearly two decades after Jade’s death, I was approached by Network Rail and British Transport Police to help them launch their new, hard-hitting campaign, Stay off the Tracks – after new figures revealed half of Brits were unaware of the live rail – I agreed. Talking about Jade each time was painful, but I wanted to help spread the message. They released two films showing the catastrophic, gruesome effects of coming into contact with the live, or electric rail, with special effects artists showing the injuries a person would be left with. In the second, a sound designer captured the sounds of cracking bones and bubbling skin a person would hear while being electrocuted. A harrowing voiceover said, ‘Electricity will follow the path of least resistance, so it kind of heats your bones up and cooks you from the inside out.’ ‘If Jade had seen this video, she wouldn’t have taken those risks,’ I said to my partner. It’s really important that stories like Jade’s are heard by parents so they can teach their children about the dangers of railways. It’s been 19 years since Jade died but the pain never goes away. I can never hug my beautiful girl and my heart aches for the moments we’ve lost. Jade was a talented and creative young soul. She loved life and her potential to make her mark on the world was immense, but a split-second decision cost her everything. Rachel Farrington, 55, Snodland, Kent