Dad had to tell kids 'mummy wasn't coming home' after taking the dogs out'

A father has recalled the heartbreaking moment he had to tell his kids their mum wasn't coming home after she washit by a scrambler in a forest park.

Seamus Armstrong remembers being in his back garden on the tragic day in 2016, when he heard a neighbour screaming his name. His wife Valerie - who had left to take the dogs out just moments earlier - had been struck down in Colin Glen Forest Park, with the neighbour telling him to go there urgently.

He arrived to the horrific sight of paramedics working to save his wife before she was taken to hospital. Surgeons were unable to save her, and Seamus was left with the terrible responisbility of telling his children their mum wouldn't be coming home.

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Seamus told Belfast Live: "It was one of my days off work, I had been in the back garden looking after the kids. It was quite sunny and warm and we had the wee swimming pool filled up and the kids had a couple of their wee friends round and were all messing about in the pool. I had decided I was going to make a wee greenhouse out of some wood and glass that I had got together.

"Valerie was on morning shift in work and due home around 4pm or so. I was out the back, Valerie arrived home and helped me put a few pieces together then decided she wanted to take the dog on a walk.

"I decided also we were all going to go out for dinner that night, and when I said the dog had already been for a walk and to go have a cup of tea, she said no I'm gonna have a walk and a shower and then go out for dinner. I said OK, I'll get the kids out of the pool and have them ready for when you get back.

Within half an hour I heard neighbours across the street screaming my name and I looked over the fence and they said: 'Seamus you need to go round to the forest, it's Valerie'. I could see two or three, what was actually four paramedics working on her on the ground."

He continued: "I got brought up to a seperate room where surgeons came and sat me down and said: 'Mr Armstrong, your wife's injuries are terminal there's nothing we can do that will save her. We have three different surgeons and have seen injuries of this magnitude before in previous cases and nobody comes back from it.'"

"I had to go home the next day and tell our kids that mummy wasn't coming back from the hospital. I didn't take them down to see her when she was in ICU, I didn't want that to be the last memory of their mum, hooked up to wires and pipes."

Seamus' testimony forms part of Operation CHICQUER, which has already produced positive results since it was launched by police - with a reduction in scrambler-related incidents, not only in West Belfast but across the City, with a 29.8% reduction in incidents seen from 2023/2024 to 2024/2025.

The PSNI say Op CHICQUER demonstrates the effectiveness of community engagement and youth education through the provision of safe scrambling courses. It is believed 70% of illegal scrambler offenders are aged 12-18.