Tributes to 'caring' woman who died on A12
Tributes have been paid to a young woman who was hit by a car while on "escorted leave" from a mental health facility.
Katherine Frost, 18, was killed while walking on the A12 near the Colchester United stadium shortly after 19:30 BST on 22 April.
Her family said: "Katherine was a beautiful daughter, sister, granddaughter, auntie, niece and cousin who was loved by so many beyond measure."
Care provider Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) called it a "tragic loss" of life, after an inquest heard Ms Frost was on a planned trip away from the St Aubyn Centre in Colchester.
A brief inquest hearing at Essex Coroner's Court was told she died from multiple traumatic injuries in a road traffic collision.
"At the time of her death, she was a patient at the St Aubyn Centre in Colchester," coroner's officer Andy Flack said.
"Miss Frost was on escorted leave with a member of staff when she was struck by a vehicle on the southbound A12."
A full inquest will take place at a future date.
Miss Frost's family paid tribute to her, saying: "There are not enough words to describe Katherine. She was so caring and putting others' needs before her own.
"Touching the hearts of so many who got to know her and loved to put others at ease by making them laugh, with a massive passion for animals.
"She will be missed and remembered every day. May she rest in peace.
"We request privacy at this unbelievably difficult time."
Essex Police said it was continuing to investigate the collision, and appealed for dash cam footage or witnesses.
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Woman walked in front of car while under NHS care
Teenager dies in crash that shut A12 for hours
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Medscape
3 hours ago
- Medscape
NHS Blood Supplies Running Low Amid Donor Shortage
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) has issued an urgent call for more blood donors 'to stabilise the nation's blood supply', warning that stocks of O negative red cells are nearing red alert status. NHSBT said there was an annual shortfall of 200,000 donors needed to meet growing demand. Dr Jo Farrar, the body's chief executive, said that maintaining stocks over the past 12 months had been 'challenging'. Cyber-Attack Led to Acute Shortage The supply problem was exacerbated by last summer's ransomware attack on several London hospitals. The disruption to cross-matching procedures forced clinicians to rely on O negative blood. This blood type is known as the 'universal donor' because it can be given to patients of any blood group without triggering a transfusion reaction. Just 8% of the population has O negative blood but it accounts for 16% of hospital demand. As the ransomware threat unfolded, NHSBT shut down multiple IT systems as a precautionary measure. This led to major disruptions in blood collection and transport. Several London hospitals declared critical incidents, cancelled surgeries and tests, and faced transfusion delays. Blood Stocks Remain Critically Low NHSBT said stocks have yet to recover, with current levels strained by a recent series of bank holidays falling in quick succession. NHSBT aims to maintain 6 days' stock of red blood cells. As of 9 am on 9 June, supplies of O-, B-, AB-, O+, and A+ all fell below that threshold, with O- at just 3.4 days. Only A-, B+, and AB+ blood types registered more than 6 days of stock. A letter sent to senior managers and practitioners on 21 May warned that the ongoing amber alert for group O red cells could escalate to a red alert. A pre-amber alert remains in place for group B D-negative red cells. The letter urged adherence to the National Blood Transfusion Committee's red cell shortage plan which was updated in October 2024. Call for One Million Active Donors To meet NHS demand safely, NHSBT said it needs one million regular blood donors. However, its most recent analysis showed participation fell short by over 200,000. Despite an increase in new donor registrations over the past year, only 24% of registrants went on to give blood. Currently, just 2% of the population is supporting the country's blood supply. In support of National Blood Week (9-15 June), NHSBT urged people to join 'the country's largest volunteering force' by donating blood. Focus on Donors with Ro Subtype NHSBT highlighted a critical need for more donors of Black Caribbean and Black African heritage. Around half of people in these groups have the Ro subtype, vital for treating sickle cell disease, the UK's fastest growing genetic blood disorder. In a press release, Health Minister Baroness Merron said: 'The NHS is in urgent need of more lifesaving blood donors from all backgrounds. We are working alongside NHSBT to make donating blood easier than ever before, opening up new donor centres and making appointments available closer to home.'
New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
Frederick Forsyth, Master of the Geopolitical Thriller, Dies at 86
Frederick Forsyth, who used his early experience as a British foreign correspondent as fodder for a series of swashbuckling, best-selling thrillers in the 1970s, including 'The Day of the Jackal,' 'The Odessa File' and 'The Dogs of War,' died on Monday at his home in Jordans, a village north of London. He was 86. His literary representative, Jonathan Lloyd, did not specify a cause, saying only that the death followed a short illness. Mr. Forsyth was a master of the geopolitical nail-biter, writing novels embedded in an international demimonde populated by spies, mercenaries and political extremists. He wrote 24 books, including 14 novels, and sold more than 75 million copies. Though he set many of his best works during the Cold War of the 1960s and '70s, Mr. Forsyth often chose stories and characters operating apart from the U.S.-Soviet rivalry, in post-colonial conflicts in Africa, for example, or involving Nazi hunters in Europe. His novel 'The Fourth Protocol' (1984), which many critics considered his best, offered a twisting tale of nuclear espionage and radical-left politics in Britain. His books regularly topped the best-seller lists, and many were turned into movies within a few years of their debut. A film version of 'The Day of the Jackal,' starring Michael Lonsdale, appeared in 1973, just two years after the novel's publication; a second movie version, with Bruce Willis and Sidney Poitier, was released in 1997 as 'The Jackal.' (A television series based on the novel, starring Eddie Redmayne, aired last year.) Mr. Forsyth came by his subjects through firsthand experience. Eschewing college after high school, he joined the Royal Air Force, where he flew fighter jets. He then worked as a reporter for Reuters; at one point, he covered the attempted assassination of President Charles de Gaulle of France by far-right militants angry over the country's withdrawal from Algeria. It was an event that he fictionalized to great effect in 'The Day of the Jackal,' which followed, in minute detail, the preparations of an elusive assassin and the French government's efforts to stop him. In 1965, Mr. Forsyth moved to the BBC, where he covered a civil war in Nigeria between the central, dictatorial government and the breakaway state of Biafra. In 2015, he revealed that while in Africa he also worked as an informant for British intelligence. His reporting on Biafra led to two books, the nonfiction 'The Biafran Story' (1969) and 'The Dogs of War' (1974), about a group of mercenaries hired by a shady international consortium to stage a coup against a resources-rich African country. Mr. Forsyth was politically conservative, and supported the Brexit campaign to leave the European Union in 2016. This is a developing story. A complete obituary will follow. Sopan Deb contributed reporting.
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
Manchester City's New Signings Mark New Era In Pep Guardiola's Tenure
Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak vowed the club would be 'aggressive' in this summer window after ending last season empty-handed. So far, City has lived up to al-Mubarak's words and then some. In nine days since the transfer window opened, City has already completed the signings of AC Milan and Netherlands midfielder Tijjani Reijnders for £46.3m ($62.7m) and Wolverhampton left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri for £31m ($42m). A deal for Olympique Lyon attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki, meanwhile, has been all but finalized. As per The Athletic, Cherki will move to England for £33.7m ($45.6m). City must register their new signings by 7pm BST (2pm EST) on Tuesday to have them available for the Club World Cup, which begins next week. The significance of City's spending spree is two-fold. First and foremost, it comes with a verdict into alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial rules still hanging over the club. In February 2023, City was formally charged with breaking financial fair play rules between 2009 and 2018 and with failing to co-operate with Premier League investigations into their finances. The club's hearing in the case against the Premier League began on September 16 last year and ran until December 6 in front of a three-person independent commission in London. Back in February, Pep Guardiola admitted he expected the verdict 'within a month'. His forecast has proved to be wide of the mark, with the commission yet to return a judgment six months after the hearing ended. By comparison, it took UEFA just two days to find City guilty of financial manipulation in January 2020, a verdict which was subsequently overturned on appeal. With a judgment still pending, City has wasted no time in reshaping its squad after spending $245m on players in the January transfer window. Omar Marmoush joined from Eintrach Frankfurt, while Savinho and Nico Gonzalez arrived from Troyes and Porto for respectively and centre-back Abdukodir Kushanov signed from Lens. The spending spree was not enough to prevent City from finishing without any silverware for the first time since the 2016-17 season, Guardiola's first campaign in the Premier League. City has won the Premier League six times in the past eight seasons, but finished third 13 points behind eventual champions Liverpool last season and never looked like retaining its crown. The Champions League brought an elimination at the hands of Real Madrid in the Round of 16 and there was heartbreak in the FA Cup final for the second consecutive year with defeat to Cyrstal Palace. In that respect, the arrivals of Reijnders, Aït-Nouri and Chekri point to a clear desire to refresh the squad. Despite the $67.8m arrival of Gonzalez from Porto in January, City's midfield lack of physicality and running power was badly exposed both domestically and in Europe. The issue was exacerbated by the absences of reigning Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who missed almost the entire season with a knee injury, and Mateo Kovacic. Reijnders' arrival should go some way towards addressing the lack of dynamism in City's engine room. The Dutch international was arguably AC Milan's player of the season, with 10 goals and four assists in Serie A. Among midfielders, only Scott McTominay, had more goal involvements with 16. City's new signing, who turns 27 next month, also ranked fifth for through balls and ninth for forward passes in Serie A last season. Milan signed Reijnders from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the summer of 2023 for $22.8m, but he netted only four goals in 50 appearances across all competitions – a figure that should have been much higher. When he met him in Saudi Arabia in January for the Italian Super Cup, former Milan manager Stefano Pioli teased him about his frequent shots off target. Twelve months on, Reijnders found the same promising positions but now with newfound composure, leading to a significant increase in his goal tally. His shots on target more than tripled last season (from 0.25 to 0.87 per match), while his conversion rate more than doubled, soaring from 10% to 23%. With Kevin De Bruyne leaving the Etihad Stadium as a free agent after 10 trophy-laden years and Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva approaching the winter of their careers, Reijnders could become a key figure in City's midfield. Just like the Dutchman, Aït-Nouri's arrival addresses a glaring weakness in Guardiola's squad. According to Opta stats, in the season just ended among defenders only Trent Alexander Arnold had more goal involvements per 90 minutes than Aït-Nouri, with 0.34 to 0.32 respectively. The prototypical modern full-back, who can use his athleticism to burst forward and is comfortable with the ball at his feet, the Algeria international is a versatile player. Aït-Nouri played at left wing-back under Vitor Pereira following the Portuguese's arrival at Wolves in December. Pereira switched between a five-man defense and a 3-4-3 formation, with the 24-year-old operating as an attacking wing-back in both circumstances. The Algeria international played in the same role under Gary O'Neill, Pereira's predecessor, when he was also deployed further forward as a left midfielder. But of the trio of signings, it is arguably Cherki who is the most intriguing. The 21-year-old is coming off a breakout season, with 12 goals and 20 assists in all competitions and made his France debut last week, scoring in the 5-4 defeat against Spain in the Nations League semi-final. Cherki also scored in both legs of the Europa League quarter-final against Manchester United and was named in the Europa League Team of the Season. Data from Opta shows he outperformed City's attacking midfielders - Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku and Savinho - in all but one category last season, shots per 90 minutes. Cherki and Doku both took 2.2 shots per game, while Savinho and Foden took 2.8 and 3.0 respectively. The Frenchman, however, led the quartet in goals per 90 minutes with a 0.4 figure, compared to Foden and Doku's 0.3 and Savinho's 0.1. Cherki's 0.6 assists per game were the high watermark in the category, when compared with Doku's 0.4, Savinho's 0.3 and Foden's 0.2 and he was also significant better in terms of creating opportunities. The Lyon midfielder set up 3.7 chances per 90 minutes, comfortably ahead of Savinho and Foden with 2.3 and Doku with 2.1. A versatile player who can operate either as attacking midfielder or on the wing, Cherki is gifted with superb technique and looks ready to fill the void left by De Bruyne. Former Arsenal striker and current CBS analyst Thierry Henry said he has "never seen a player in history who dribbles as quickly as him". High praise indeed. The Premier League has been warned.
