There is nothing more devastating than when a parent loses a child.
The pain is utterly incomprehensible and affects so many loved ones who shared joyful experiences with the one lost.
Last Wednesday, the world lost a beloved nine-year-old girl, Harriet Emily Nicola Forster.
She and her mother, originally from Oxford, were visiting the seaside town of Staiths in North Yorkshire for a family holiday.
The pair were enjoying the sea breeze and warm sand at Seaton Beach when tragedy suddenly struck the young girl.
The beach is lined by extremely unstable cliffs that locals say have been known to crumble at the smallest strike, according to Metro.
The shale rock is especially brittle when it is hammered at by curious children seeking fossils, said nearby villagers.
Tragically, the rock from the cliffside fell and crushed the young girl. The ambulance called to the scene was too late to save her.
“The RNLI can confirm that volunteer crew members of Staithes and Runswick Lifeboat Station responded to a rock fall at Seaton Garth in Staithes this afternoon.
“The RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew attended to a child who sadly died at the scene,” said the RNLI in a statement.
The nine-year-old’s family asked, “that you give us time as a family to support each other through our indescribable pain.”
We give our condolences to Harriet’s family and friends as they deal with overwhelming grief during this devastating time.
Hopefully, awareness will be raised about the unstableness of Seaton Beach’s cliffside.
Harriet was a gorgeous and happy child. Her family described her as “the light of our lives.”
