The Ledge - Little girl dies on beach

This is so sad. I remember going to this beach as a child:

OUR FEARLESS, GORGEOUS ABBIE DOODLE-DOO
Tragedy of girl, 3, buried on beach
By Geoffrey Lakeman

THE family of three-year-old sand tomb victim Abbie Livingstone-Nurse yesterday told of their terrible loss.

Mum Pippa, 33, said: "Abbie was fearless. She wanted to try everything."

abbie livingston-nurse

TRAGIC: Abbie Livingstone-Nurse

Fiance Ian Sayer, 40, wept: "She was gorgeous. She called me Daddy-Doodle. We called her Abbie Doodle-Do." Abbie was buried alive when a 5ft sandpit collapsed on her at Hayle beach, Cornwall.

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Lifeguard Ben May, 23, said: "I could hear her crying for her mum. There must have been more than a ton of sand on top of her."

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HEARTS too full of grief, the family of Abbie Livingstone-Nurse yesterday paid sombre tribute on the beach where she was buried alive in a sandpit.

For 15 minutes mum Pippa, Abbie's brother Joe, five, stepdad Ian Sayer and Ian's son Dominic, 13, stood silently to remember the "gorgeous" three-year-old.

They were joined by holidaymakers and lifeguard Ben May, 23, who sank to his chest in the sand as he vainly battled to free Abbie from her tomb. He heard her crying for her mother and held her arm as she died.

Weeping Pippa, 33, lay a pink-ribboned rose on the sands. Then she told of her unimaginable loss.

She said: "We're too devastated for words. Abbie was fearless. She

wanted to try everything. She was our world. Now she's gone."

Fiancé Ian, 40 , broke down as he spoke of his desperate attempts to reach the youngster.

He said: "I just kept digging and digging, but the sand kept falling in. I was frantic. Others tried to dig, but it was no good.

"Abbie was our little baby girl. Everyone loved her. She called me 'Daddy-Doodle' and we called her

'Abbie Doodle-Doo'. She was gorgeous. She lived in a world of her own and we doted on her."

Abbie's father Fraser Nurse was devastated by news of her death.

He said the little girl's last tragic afternoon digging a sandpit with her older brother was "her, absolutely".

Pippa and teacher Ian were sitting near where Abbie and Joe were playing on Towans Beach in Hayle, West Cornwall, when the sandpit collapsed on the terrified children on Sunday.

As frantic Pippa ran to raise the alarm, Ian fought to dig them out.

But after releasing Joe he was unable to reach Abbie.

Eight lifeguards and dozens of holidaymakers rushed to help.

But the wet sand, loosened by a recent high tide, was almost impossible to shift and collapsed in on itself as fast as rescuers could dig.

Abbie was pinned down by an estimated ton of sand. Her breathing was briefly eased during the harrowing

30-minute fight to save her. But by the time she was freed from the sand's grip she was dead.

Lifeguard Ben arrived on the scene to find Ian scrabbling to reach Abbie.

He said: "I couldn't see her but I could hear her crying and asking for her mum. Understandably the father was panicking.

"The sand was filling up the pit. He was trying to hold it back, then another bank of sand fell down.

"He was just too tired. Once the other bank fell we both knew he

couldn't do anything more. I told him to leave. It was clear we needed professional help."

After persuading exhausted Ian to get out of the pit, 6ft Ben climbed down to try to reach the buried child.

He said: "All I could see was one of her hands. I tried to clear back the sand so she could breathe.

"I reached in and felt for her face and was right up to my elbow. I had my hand on her mouth and kept it slightly open.

"I could feel her breathing the air coming down the hole made by

my arm.

"By that time a lot of people were trying to dig using buckets and spades. We were very keen to get to her. I could feel Abbie's breathing slowing and knew we had to start on resuscitation.

"I tried pulling her out by the arm. But she wouldn't budge because of the weight of sand pressing on her. It was so loose it was collapsing in all the time. Finally, it came up to my shoulders. I could feel the pressure.

"There must have been more than a ton of sand on Abbie.

"I tried to clear her airways but her breathing stopped when more sand fell on top of her. I was holding her arm when she passed away."

As emergency services arrived on the scene, Ben was pulled out of the pit before helping lifeguards use their surfboards to shore up the sides of the 5ft deep hole.

An air ambulance helicopter, which had landed on the beach, flew Abbie to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. But she was dead on arrival.

Yesterday Pippa and other family members left Cornwall for the sad journey to their terraced home in Worthing, West Sussex.

They arrived back in their Renault Scenic escorted by a police car. Soon afterwards, the curtains were drawn. Earlier in the evening, friends of the family had delivered bags of shopping to the house.

Abbie's grandfather Peter Sturton said Pippa was "absolutely distraught" and too upset to speak. She and Ian are due to marry next year.

Meanwhile Abbie's father Fraser told of the "very adventurous" girl he would never see again. Fraser, of Tangmere, near Chichester, West Sussex, said: "She was such good fun and so funny. She was always making us laugh. She was also a very caring little girl.

"For a three-year-old she wasn't in the slightest bit selfish."

Fraser said Abbie's shocked half-sister Chelsea, 11, could not take in the tragic news, crying: "No! No! She can't be dead."

Abbie's grandparents, Harvey and Julie Nurse, also spoke of their beloved grandchild.

At the couple's home in Wick, near Littlehampton, Harvey said: "Abbie was a beautiful and very well behaved little child.

"She was a little tomboy always climbing about, but she never fell over. We've been in shock since we were told. It's just so sad."

Phillip Drew, beach manager for Penwith Council, said it was low tide when a lifeguard was alerted that the girl was trapped in a pit dug at the high tide level.

He said: "It was a big pit but not particularly deep, maybe about 4-5ft. But because Abbie was only three, it towered over her head.

"When the sand collapsed in on top of her she had a huge weight on her chest. We couldn't get to her to resuscitate her in time.

"We don't know whether the children dug the pit or whether somebody else dug it and they crawled into it. Possibly they were trying to tunnel under as well."

Falmouth Coastguards said: "We advise people that sand is obviously very unstable. Make sandcastles, dig small holes, make dams and enjoy yourself. But don't dig into sand dunes, and don't dig large holes, because of the danger of collapse."

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