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'WE LET HER DO FUN THINGS'
Parents of schoolgirl, 14, killed in speedboat crash describe their ‘perfect daughter’ on Good Morning Britain
Emily Gardner died after her pleasure boat capsized on trip with family friends
THE heartbroken parents of a schoolgirl killed in a speedboat crash told Good Morning Britain how they always let her enjoy "fun things" and "never doubted" her safety.
Debbie and Clive Gardner are campaigning for stricter safety laws after Emily, 14, died after getting trapped under a capsized boat last year.
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Holding back tears, mum Debbie told presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid: "Emily was the perfect daughter, she really had a passion for life.
"We allowed Emily to go and do all the fun things and never doubted for one minute she would come home."
She told of the heart-wrenching moment police rang the family house to tell them there had been an accident.
Emily was on her first trip away from home with family friends when tragedy struck.
She was trapped beneath a sunken boat for 25 minutes as a lifeboat crew battled to save her.
Debbie said: "It's every parents worst nightmare to lose a child and hear a phone calling saying there's been an accident.
"We didn't know for quite a while what had happened.
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"The police come and took us to Torbay from Gloucester, where we live, and we received the news almost as we got down to Torbay that Emily had tragically died."
An inquest heard that Emily had been given an outsized life vest which became snagged on the hull of the vessel – given to her by her best friend Holly’s dad, Paul Pritchard.
Now the grief-stricken parents are campaigning to make it law that people driving speedboats have a licence, proper training and to make people wear properly fitted life jackets.
Emily's dad Clive said: "We've got a petition called Emily's Law.
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"We can't believe in this day and age with health and safety the way it is that there isn't any law and you can take a pleasure boat with whoever and do what you want."
Debbie said the campaign had given meaning to the family's grief and urged people to sign their petition.
She said: "It gives a positive when you feel so raw and negative.
"No one wants to bury their child.
"It's basic safety that wasn't obvious to us."
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Down in Devon, the Pritchards, Emily and Gemma Gadsen, another friend, headed into the harbour town of Brixham, where Mr Pritchard’s 15ft boat, a Fletcher 155, was moored.
He had bought it on eBay for £1,800.
He told the girls to take life jackets from the back of his car.
The inquest in Torquay heard that the boat capsized within minutes of launching after it ploughed at close to top speed into a 6ft wave, instantly throwing all those aboard into the choppy waters.
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Petite Emily, who was wearing an extra-small wetsuit, was trapped beneath the boat when it became tangled with cleats on the hull.
Doctors at Torbay hospital tried desperately for 80 minutes to revive her, but she was pronounced dead from a heart attack and drowning.
Talking to the ITV programme this morning, her mum paid tribute to her little girl.
Debbie said: "She enjoyed everything life had to offer her.
"She was special, always laughing, always smiling, really happy girl, lots of friends.
"She enjoyed school, always sociable."
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