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Memories of the daughter killed in a tragic accident
A BUDDHIST service in Thailand has marked the first anniversary of tragic Beth Fitton's death in an horrific car crash which also claimed the life of a child in her care.
Beth’s family have just returned from the country after taking her ashes there for a special remembrance service.
The 23-year-old care worker, from Buxton, died along with a 12-year-old girl when their car — with badly-worn front tyres — crashed into a tree and burst into flames near Tideswell.
An inquest earlier this year heard the condition of the tyres, which police believe was a factor in the accident, had twice been highlighted by an employee of Stoney Middleton-based Adventure Care, but they were never replaced.
A magistrates court fined the company 4,000 when they admitted using a vehicle with two defective tyres.
Beth’s dad, John (55), said: “Road traffic accidents are unexpected, so they come as a complete shock and they are often very violent deaths as well, so it really is a shock for the whole family and something you never really get over.
‘Live with it’
“You have to live with it, rather than come to terms with it because you never do.”
Beth left home at 16 to live with friends, before taking an Open University course in Thailand two years later where she also worked in bars and restaurants.
At 22, she returned to England where she was a student at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, working alternate weekends as a residential care worker looking after children.
John said his daughter had hoped to return to Thailand to set up her own restaurant and hotel, with his financial support.
Speaking of the moment he heard his daughter had died, he said: “The police arrived at 9.31pm and I was trying to think what had I done wrong.
“It’s a rather strange experience, you just go into complete shock.
“After the police had gone I then had to drive into Buxton to let my ex-wife and son know what had happened, which was quite difficult.
“I then drove out to the crash site and only then I realised how they had died, because the police hadn’t said.
“I had asked if they wanted me to identify the body, but they said they would do it from DNA analysis.
“I looked in the field and saw a big black patch and only then I realised how they had died.”
As well as her parents, Beth also left a younger brother and a half-sister.
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Weather for Chesterfield
Friday 25 May 2012
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Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
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