FAMILY MARK FIVE YEARS WITHOUT TEENAGER: ‘PAIGE WOULD BE DOING GOOD THINGS’
REVEALS MUM IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
PAMELA Doherty vividly remembers how “normal” her life was five years ago. She was juggling two children at primary school, a newborn son and her teenage daughter Paige.
The seemingly unimportant conversations with her 15-year-old in the days prior to her disappearance are now etched in her mind as she replays her last moments with her eldest child before the family’s world was turned upside down five years ago on March 19, 2016.
That Saturday started like any other but as the day came to a close, Pamela, who is also mum to five other children, knew in her heart she would never see her little girl alive again.
“Five years ago my life was normal,” she said, “I didn’t have all this – the grief, the trolling.”
“I’m just a normal person and the things
I’ve had to face, because somebody decided to take my wee girl’s life, it’s unimaginable.
“My fiancé Alan is still so surprised by how our lives are. He’ll say ‘I wasn’t there, I didn’t go through it and I don’t understand it all,’.
I think most people think like that, but I’m glad he’s here.” Paige vanished while buying breakfast at Delicious Deli in Clydebank early on March 19, 2016, just minutes from her family home.
What followed was a nationwide appeal to trace the popular schoolgirl as Scotland held its breath hoping for her safe return. Tragedy struck just two days later when her body was discovered in the bushes at the side of Great Western Road in Drumchapel. It was later revealed the brave teen fought for her life as she was stabbed more than 160 times. It may have been five years since Paige’s brutal murder, but for her doting mum time has stood still. Her daughter’s “angelic smile and warm personality” are constantly on her mind. She said: “You remember it all so clearly, but then, at the same time, you don’t. Things will pop into your head and you’ll think ‘oh, I forgot about that’. “I can’t believe it’s been five years since I last spoke to her. It seems like five minutes. She’s still such a massive part of my life and she always will be.”
In the five years following her death, the teen’s family has opened the Paige’s Promise charity and recently Pamela began a university degree in criminology with the aim of helping other families facing the tragic death of loved ones.
It’s something she feels Paige would be proud of, however it’s bittersweet knowing she’s not here to see how her legacy is helping others.
Pamela and her family have remained close with the schoolgirl’s group of friends and she’s watched them grow from schoolchildren to young women, all the while knowing she won’t get to see her daughter reach the same milestones.
She said: “She had her head
screwed on, she doing good things.
“I see the other girls passing their driving tests and graduating university and think ‘that should be her’.
“She should be 21 next month and she would’ve loved that. Turning 18 and 21 were big deals for her and she missed out on both.
“I should be helping her buy her first house. I could’ve been a gran – I doubt it – but you never know. I’ll never have that with her.”
Now, her eldest son Andrew has celebrated his 15th birthday – the same age his sister was when she died – it’s an event the 37-year-old knew was coming, but one she’s dreaded. would’ve been