Mandy Ogden shares her experience of grief to mark 3 years since the death of her daughter, Georgia ‘Gee’ Ogden
3 years ago on the 25th June 2020 I was woken in the early hours by a stomach churning hammering on the front door only to be met by a lone police officer delivering the news that no parent ever wants to hear… “we think your daughter has been involved in a serious Road Traffic Collision, is there anyone else in the house with you as we need to take you to the hospital now” The moment I heard those words I already knew she was dead because I had literally felt her leave me when I jolted awake at the time we were told the crash happened …although I didn’t know it was that at that time.
3 years on without hearing her voice, her cute laugh, her silliness & random outbursts of singing, her tantrums over something & nothing, her sassiness & watching her incredible dancing & performing – the gaping hole, the loneliness & emptiness she has left is indescribable. Having lost my mum too only 7 months after Gee, losing your child is just on another level💔 My mum’s brain tumour diagnosis gave me time to tell her I loved her & would be with her till the end but the shock of a sudden & tragic death gives you no time to tell them how much you love them or that you’ll be there for them till their last breath or take those last trips to make memories… it’s all just taken away from you in an instance.
The day Gee was killed will haunt me for the rest of my living days. Being blue lighted to the Royal Stoke Hospital, pacing up & down outside A&E, then ushered into the relatives’ room for what seemed like an eternity due to COVID restrictions & then finally to be met with Gee on life support. The following morning 26th June 2020 Gee had been moved into a private room in Critical Care where we had to dress head to toe in full PPE due to COVID restrictions which was even more horrific, so clinical & isolating. After more agonising waiting around the tests carried out confirmed that she was brain dead & there was nothing more they could do & that is just the most horrific experience ever that I cannot even begin to put into words.
No one ever prepares you for being a parent & certainly no one prepares you for the death of your child or what was to follow & deciding which of your daughters body parts will be donated – it’s just never right!
Every day I ask myself WHY her & through no fault of her own – it should not have been Gee 💔
On that horrific night it was the driver that caused the car crash by pulling straight out of a junction into the path of an oncoming HGV & every day I see the STD Developments HGVs from Congleton (who to this day have never passed on their condolences) & my entire body shivers to the core, thinking is that the truck that hit the car, it’s literally an ongo ing torture. What did I do to deserve such pain, life is being so incredibly cruel.
A moment driving with undue care & attention has caused a life time of pain for us & has taken my beautiful girl’s life away & destroyed our future with her – I will not forgive & never forget especially after the events that followed!
I’m sorry if my grief makes you uncomfortable or you can’t handle me talking about Gee but I’m the one having to live with this……so I guess I’m not sorry at all!
To help ease some of the pain, keep us focused whilst keeping Gee’s memory alive we will keep fundraising & try to make a difference where it matters just as Gee did in life https://www.facebook.com/geesfoundation 💖🌈
Thank you to those that continue to love, support & make time for us, it means so very much.
RIP OUR GORGEOUS TINY DANCING QUEEN, A BEAUTIFUL ROSE WAITING TO BLOOM, SADLY TAKEN FAR TOO SOON.
GEORGIA LEIGH OGDEN 15/08/2002 – 26/06/2020 age 17 💔💖🌈
Updated on: 26 June 2023