Our daughter, 12, died on school trip and the trauma cost us our jobs, home & friends… we just want answers

PARENTS of a 12-year-old girl who died on a school trip were left so traumatised that they lost their jobs and family home.

Tony Lawson says his family are now living hand-to-mouth in Portugal after his daughter Jess drowned on a school trip to France in 2015.

He and his wife, Brenda Lawson's lives were turned upside down after Jessica was pronounced dead after being pulled from a French lake.

The 12-year-old became trapped underneath a floating pontoon after it flipped over.

Following the death of her daughter, Brenda stayed in bed and created a "nest" out of Jess's clothes.

She stayed there for nine months with her weight plummeting to five stone.

Meanwhile, Tony's once-thriving removals business in East Yorkshire failed after customers felt they didn't want to "bother him".

After the business collapsed the family were unable to pay the mortgage and were forced to move to another country to re-build their lives.

"We were just a normal family," Tony recalled.

"I had a successful business, and a nice house in leafy Kirk Ella, my wife was a civil servant of 30 years.

"This devastated our lives, our business, our daughters. Our lives are
unrecognisable."

Months after Jessica's tragic death, Brenda decided she wanted to move to Portugal.

We live very simply, hand to mouth.

Tony Lawson

"If she hadn't gone to Portugal, my wife probably wouldn't be alive," he said.

The family sold the family home after struggling to pay the mortgage and with that money moved to Portugal and bought a caravan.

Tony was forced to cash in his pension and borrow money from his friends.

"We live very simply, hand to mouth," he added.

Now Brenda and Tony are looking for answers about their daughter's death.

"My daughter died on a school trip - but no one has ever said sorry
and we're still waiting for answers," Tony said.

Not much can be said about what had happened or the decisions made before or after the incident, which will be forensically examined in court once the case is eventually heard, following delays due to Covid.

The Lawsons were initially told in a phone call from the school that Jess had
had an accident but she was alive.

Thinking she maybe had a broken arm or similar, they rang the hospital
number the school had provided them with and asked to speak to the
doctor looking after her.

"The doctor gave my wife the full list of all that was wrong with her and said 'you'd better get here very quickly, it's extremely grave and we don't think she will last the evening'," Tony said.

We had no explanation or apology and nothing from the school.

Tony Lawson

The couple arranged to fly from Liverpool's John Lennon airport at 7am the next morning.

While waiting in the queue to board with their daughter Polly, the family were approached by British Transport Police officers, who broke the news that their daughter had died early that morning.

People wrongly assume, said Tony, that they'd received an outpouring of love and support from the school community and parents whose children were on the trip.

"We had no explanation or apology and nothing from the school," he said.

But just as hurtful and painful was the response from people who knew them.

"We were ignored, isolated. Ostracised. I could clear aisles in Morrisons," said Tony.

The couple set up the Jessica Lawson Foundation and offer bereaved parents the chance to have a short break where they facilitate trips and expenses through their charity.

Tony added: "Just about everything we do is for Jess, we hope that she's aware of where we are in the world and what we are doing in her name."

The couple are now hopeful that finally their search for answers will soon be coming to a close.

"I'm looking forward to finding answers, and then for me, that will be over. It won't retrieve Jess though. Her fate was sealed that day.

"Our lives are no longer recognisable, we've lost everything. We just want some form of apology or acknowledgement."

East Riding Council states they cannot comment while the French authorities are investigating.