Woman meets family of classmate she killed with javelin on school sports day
37 years after a woman accidentally killed her school friend on Sports Day, she's now accepted that it wasn't her fault.
On an unforgettable summers day in 1983, Liz was competing in the javelin games when her instrument fatally collided with Sammy's head, who'd been asked to measure the thrown distances on field.
"At first it was going straight and then it just seemed to veer at the last minute towards my friend Sammy, who was standing just next to the line," Liz recounted on the YouTube channel A Mug of Life.
"They checked that I was ready to throw, [but] they hadn't checked that Sammy was looking to mark the throw."
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Instead of more hands-on PE staff, the event was being supervised by history and English teachers.
"For some reason she was distracted and so she didn't see it coming," Liz added.
"We all screamed her name and she ducked, and I had a moment of thinking, 'Oh gosh, thank goodness,' you know, it's just missed her.
"And then that turned to horror when it struck her in the head and then she stumbled forwards. It was like I was witnessing some horror film unfolding in front of me."
Sammy's loved ones were admirably supportive of the guilt-ridden youngster, even going so far as to seat Liz next to them at the funeral.
Despite this, the teenager was convinced that she was in the wrong; compounded by the shocking lack of professional counselling in the aftermath.
Believing that she was 'evil' deep down, Liz took ecstasy to subdue the internal storms, as well as getting involved in destructive relationships.
Later in her life, she was finally able to obtain the death inquest report, which revealed how eye witnesses claimed she'd merely followed instructions on the day and that the 'death by misadventure' ruling meant that the whole nightmare was on the school's doorstep, not hers.
Having been granted a PTSD assessment in her mid-40s, Liz's feelings on the matter slowly changed, paving the way for a touching reunion with Sammy's mum.
She went on to share: "I'm 50, but feeling like a 13-year-old. There were a lot of memories obviously coming back. But I met her and we went for a cup of tea, and it was beautiful. Very emotional, as you can imagine.
"I said that I felt like on some level I was waiting for her permission to be happy. And she said, 'Ive only ever wanted you to be happy.'
"I came away thinking, if Sammy's mum says it's okay for me to be happy, then I can't not be happy. I've got permission. It's like it's okay. And so it was like the missing piece for me."
Sigh, the world is a messed up place.
Dan Seddon