Dishwasher knife victim 'died in the arms of her brother'

A STUDENT killed in an accident when she fell on to a knife in an open dishwasher died in the arms of her sobbing brother, mourners heard yesterday.

Jane McDonald, 31, was impaled after she slipped and fell on the kitchen knife which was sticking upright from the dishwasher drawer.

She had been tidying up before she went to bed at the manse she shared with her distant relative, Reverend Sharon Colvin.

The shocked minister frantically dialled 999 after walking into the kitchen to find Ms McDonald slumped on the floor.

Paramedics battled to save Ms McDonald, but she died a short time later at Monklands General Hospital, in Airdrie, Lanarkshire.

At a service yesterday afternoon at Armadale Parish Church, in West Lothian, more than 300 mourners paid their final respects.

Reverend Elizabeth Kenny said: "Jane was a bubbly, vivacious person who loved going out to nightclubs and dancing with her friends.

"She was a bonny wee lass who always wore designer clothes and never went out without wearing make-up. Jane was a no-nonsense person and people always knew where they stood with her."

The minister told mourners Jane died clutching the hand of her brother, Mark, who had rushed to the hospital minutes before she died.

Ms McDonald was the youngest of five children and was originally from Armadale, West Lothian. She was staying with the minister while studying for an HND in legal studies at Motherwell College.