Parents of Portlethen toddler hit by car speak out

THE devastated parents of the two year old girl, knocked down and killed outside her Aberdeenshire home, today spoke of how their “little angel” would live in their hearts forever.

Elaine Guthrie and Gary MacCluskey released a poignant statement, telling of their loss and thanking the emergency services who fought to try and save the life of their two year-old daughter Lily.

The little girl, who would have celebrated her third birthday on 24 March, died on Tuesday night after being struck by a white Audi Q7 close to her home in Hillside Road, Portlethen, on the outskirts of the sprawling suburban community.

She was pronounced dead after being rushed by ambulance to the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.

In their joint statement, released by Grampian Police, the parents said: “Firstly we would like to thank everyone, from the lady that attempted CPR, the police officers, the first responder doctor, ambulance service, hospital staff and everyone else involved for their efforts in trying to save our little angel.

“The kind words, flowers and teddies left by our tree at our home in Portlethen will remain with us forever as we try to come to terms with the tragic accident which resulted in the loss of our Lily.”

They continued: “”We could not hope to put into words how we feel at this very sad time in our lives but the support of our friends and family will, we are sure, eventually help us through. We are devastated at the loss of Lily at such a young age but she will live on in our hearts forever as she was, as we are sure every child is to their parents, our shining light.

“Night, night baby we will always love you and will never forget you, love mama and dada.”

The community of Portlethen, nine miles from Aberdeen, was still in a state of shock today as Grampian Police continued their investigations into the tragedy.

Inspector Ian Kirkwood of Grampian Police said: “Tragically a young girl has lost her life as a result of the incident. It is too early to speculate on the cause of the collision and I would appeal to anyone who witnessed the incident or its immediate aftermath, and who has not yet spoken with Police, to contact us soon as possible.”

Messages of condolence flooded social networking sites. They included a message from Jamie Langfield, the Dons’ goalkeeper, who wrote on Twitter: “My heart goes out to the family from Portlethen who lost their little girl - truly heartbreaking.”

Local Councillor Ian Mollison said the death of the little girl was every driver’s “worst nightmare.” He added: “Whatever the circumstances it’s a terrible tragedy for the family of the little girl and the driver as well. My thoughts go to everyone involved.”