Devastated dad and husband Wasim Khan reached his wife as she was still breathing after being crushed by the tree branch but she was unable to be saved and died at the park in Blackburn
A dad who desperately tried to save his wife being crushed by a tree, after she protected their child from being hit, has spoken of his torment.
Madia Kauser was taking her five-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son for an evening walk at Witton Country Park in Blackburn when a huge tree branch fell directly towards them. The little girl was in a pushchair which the selfless mum managed to push away, before taking the full force of the falling branch herself.
Her husband Wasim was playing football with his son just a few yards away, when he heard the crack from the tree branch breaking. Speaking for the first time since his wife’s death, the 32-year-old dad said he rushed to his wife.
He told the Sun: “I was playing football with my son and kicked the ball in the wrong direction and we were going after it. I heard a crack and the tree just came down. There was no wind, nothing.
“I rushed to her. I tried to save her, she was still breathing. I cannot praise the paramedics enough. They were there in six minutes and the doctors came from the local hospital but nothing could be done.
“I have spoken to someone at the coroners office and they tell me she had chest fractures and her lungs had collapsed. The tree she was hit by was standing straight, not even leaning and then it just came down. She has left us. Now there is just me and my children.”
Emergency services rushed to the park and while her daughter survived unscathed, 32-year-old Madia was pronounced dead at the scene. Several of her relatives had arrived in the area shortly after the tragedy.
Blackburn with Darwen Council set up a cordon and quickly felled the beech tree from which the branch fell.
Former mayor and sitting councillor Zamir Khan MBE, who lives in the tight-knit community, said: “Her little girl told me her mother pushed her out of the way as the branch fell. Madia was a loving, doting mother and a very caring person.
“The older boy was walking with his father in front and could not believe what happened. It is very hard for the children. I do not think they will ever walk in that park again.”
