Chalkwell Park fundraiser tops £12k less than five hours after schoolgirl, 7, dies in tree horror

A heartwarming community has come together and raised over £10,000 for the family of a seven-year-old who died in a freak accident at a park.

The schoolgirl was trapped under a "massive" tree branch in Chalkwell Park, South-end-on-Sea after the tree collapsed shortly before 3pmon Saturday. A six-year-old girl was left fighting for her life after the incident, with three others hospitalised with minor injuries.

Around "40 to 50" locals rushed over to the tree and tried to lift it. Emergency services, including two air ambulances, flooded the area and the girl was taken to hospital. Sadly, she was later pronounced dead. A GoFundMe has since been launched to support her family following their "unimaginable loss." It partly said: "Let’s honour the little girl by showing the same kindness and community spirit so quickly shown that day."

READ MORE: Chalkwell Park tree was 'propped up by metal poles' before collapsing and crushing girl, 7, to death

Accountant Ishan Madan, 39, from Westcliff-on-Sea, was playing in a cricket match nearby when he heard a “horrendous, screeching scream”. He said: “Everyone ran towards the clubhouse, where the tree is. The tree had snapped and I think there were four children, the fifth one was slightly further away, I think she’d be hit by a branch. Two of them were under a smaller branch, they were rescued easily, and unfortunately, the other two girls, they were stuck under this massive tree.

“So we got bystanders to help, it must have been 40 to 50 people who then tried to lift the fallen tree up and to our horror, these two little girls, poor girls, were stuck underneath it. Their mother was on the corner. It was horrendous.” Mr Madan said that he had heard the children were walking on a path when the tree fell.

He continued: “You’d never think something like this could happen and there were a lot of people at our club that were shocked, including myself. It was horrendous. It was like a nightmare that you’d sort of wake up from and then someone would tell you it wasn’t true. You couldn’t imagine kids walking in the park and something like this happening.”

Chief Superintendent Leighton Hammett of Essex Policesaid: “Families are facing unimaginable hardship this evening and all of our thoughts are with them at this time. I cannot begin to put into words how difficult today’s events have been, and continue to be, for them. It’s also not lost on me how traumatic it must have been for the members of the public who witnessed this awful incident. Across a matter of moments, many of them went from enjoying the warm summer weather to rushing to the aid of strangers without a second thought.

“They showed the best of Southend today and I’m sorry this update does not bring them more positive news. My officers, and our partners with the ambulance and fire service, did all they could to help the two injured children. Today’s loss is one they will all take personally.” An investigation is ongoing to find out what happened.

The fundraiser will go towards the funeral, a memorial installation at the park, ongoing support for bereaved family members and a donation towards the Air Ambulance charities that attended.

To donate, visithere.