Moment I knew my son was going to die

ANGELA DENT 61, is a retired restaurant owner and mother of three who lives with her husband, Ken, in enfield, Middlesex. She says: on BoxIng day morning 2012, my youngest son simon, 35 and the owner of a tapas restaurant, was smoking a cigarette on the porch of his house. My husband Ken and I were staying with him, and I went out to speak to him.

as I looked at him, a strange calmness came over me. We asked each other if we were oK and both said yes. In that moment, I got an inexplicable feeling that I would never see him again and that he was going to die.

We held each other’s gaze. there was no sadness or smiling. It was strange and unnerving, but I have never felt so cer- tain of something before. I went back inside and into my bedroom and woke up my husband Ken to tell him of my premonition because I felt so strongly that something bad was going to happen. he told me not to be so silly.

simon went off to work a little later. that night at 3.37am, the phone rang when Ken and I were asleep in bed. I started crying, knowing it would be the news I had been dreading.

It was one of my son’s friends saying there had been a terrible car accident and simon was very badly hurt. We arrived at the scene of the accident, but our son had already been pronounced dead.

I was strangely numb, but knew that it was his time. I will never forget that moment when we looked at each other and I just knew.