Sophie’s Choice’ is relived as fate dishes out the most cruel of situations to a mother in Dunmow , Essex . 39 year-old Rachel Edwards was forced to choose between saving her teenage son or young daughter from drowning.
Mrs Edwards was driving her car with her two-year old daughter and her 16 year-old teenage son when the car hit a pothole and veered off the road near Boston ,Lincolnshire. The car then plunged into a dyke and began sinking.
Mrs Edwards got out of the vehicle through an open window and returned to try to free her children – whose passage out of the car was blocked.
An absolute tragedy
Her son drowned…
She was able to pull her daughter, Isabella, out but could not rescue her son, Jack, without letting go of Isabella.
Mrs Edwards, who was six months pregnant at the time of the accident – told the Derby Telegraph,
“I saw the bottom of the car so I shoved my hands under and I felt her car seat.I pulled her out and I knew she was still alive. I tried to go back for Jack but I knew, if I let go of Isabella, then I wouldn’t be able to get her back.”
After getting her daughter to safety, Mrs Edwards tried to go back for Jack,paramedics who arrived on the scene held her back.
Jack was confirmed dead in a hospital after a police officer pulled him out.
Jack’s father Carl Brennan, who is separated from Mrs Edwards, said, “It is a hard thing to put into words how I feel. You don’t think you would ever have to bury your own child.
Now just imagine, when this mother was going about her daily duties the previous day, do you think that she could have ever fathomed the possibility of losing her son the very next day?
There will always be this nagging doubt running through her mind , the doubt of whether she did enough or displayed enough affection towards her son when he was alive, even though she may have performed her duties to the best of her abilities.
We learn from this tragic story, to live each day as though it were our last. Anyone at home who needs your hug? Anyone who needs your smile? Stop racing through life for a while and pause to appreciate the people and things around you. Never give regret a chance to play a part in your life
Life teaches us a lesson with each second. We run in the rat race, but sometimes forget to ‘stop and smell the roses’. If you take just one day to slow down and reflect, you will find the most enlightening moments in the most simplest of daily situations.
For example, when waiting for a bus or lift, you may realise that half your life is spent waiting. So it may dawn on you that patience is a virtue that serves as an essential to living a lotus-seat life. Now there we go! A lesson learnt in a day you dedicate to slowing down, reflecting and appreciating the things around you. The lessons you learn through reflection will stay with you through life and get you through some pretty sticky situations.
Learn, appreciate and love with all you’ve got. Just a gentle reminder from theAsianparent, live life with no regret.
