THREE siblings have paid special tribute to their sister on the 50th anniversary of her death in a road accident.
Karen Watson died when she was struck by a vehicle at a crossing in Bradford Road, Riddlesden, near the Granby Lane junction, on September 21, 1974.
She was 14 years old.
Now her sisters Julie Graham, Angie Daggers and Michelle Shaw – all nee Watson – have placed flowers at the scene.
The emotional act of remembrance was carried out at 3.30pm, the precise moment half a century earlier that the tragedy had occurred, on the anniversary date yesterday.
Karen was beginning her newspaper delivery round, and had just collected the papers, when the accident happened.
The family lived at a nearby launderette.
"In those days the pedestrian crossing – which is now a pelican – was only a small one and Karen was literally just setting out from the newsagents," says Angie, who was nine at the time, but still remembers the day vividly.
"We were stopping over at our grandma's house and I was playing upstairs with my little sister when we found out what had happened. It was devastating.
"We were all very close."
Karen attended Grange and Swire Smith schools, and had just started at the former Greenhead.
"As you can imagine what happened to Karen hit the whole family really hard," says Angie.
"When I was coming up to 13 we moved to Haworth – there were too many memories in Riddlesden.
"Our parents are no longer with us, but as sisters we all still feel Karen's loss – even after all this time – and wonder how her life would have turned out.
"We've all had children, and two of us are grandmothers.
"It was my older sister who suggested we did something in memory of Karen to mark 50 years, and we felt that laying flowers at the spot where she died would be a fitting tribute."
Angie, who lives at Long Lee and has two children and two grandchildren, is the middle sister of the surviving three.
Michelle is 58, and Julie 63.
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