Town rocked by horse fall death

Tragic: Activist and community stalwart dies after falling from her horse

A MEARNS woman who was at the heart of community life in Stonehaven for many years has died following a tragic accident.

Christina Sullivan was killed after sustaining head injuries while riding at a stables near her home in Rickarton.

The 73-year-old had been a dedicated member of the community council and played a pivotal part in the town’s recent twinning with Acheres in France.

She had lectured at Aberdeen University and was a veteran antinuclear campaigner.

Locally she helped organise events such as the New Year’s Day Nippy Dip.

Her husband, Mike, described her as a “very fine character” who would be “enormously missed”.

A Mearns community stalwart and former environmental campaigner has died after falling from her horse and suffering a head injury.

Christina Sullivan, 73, was on a horse at a stables near to her home in Rickarton, a few miles west of Stonehaven, when the tragic accident happened last Wednesday.

Despite paramedics’ best efforts, the experienced horsewoman died before she got to hospital.

Husband Mike, a former

“She was a very fine character and I will miss her enormously”

Lib Dem councillor, said that the mother of one would be missed “enormously”.

Mr Sullivan, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, said: “She was loved by everyone.

“She was very interested in the local community and spent a lot of time working with the community council.

“She was a very politically-motivated person you could say, and very keen on CND. We went to demonstrations many times. She was just an altogether interested activist.

“As well as this she loved animals, was a philanthropist and had four grandchildren in Denmark who she loved spending time with.

“She was a very fine character and I will miss her enormously.”

Born in Denmark in 1945, Mrs Sullivan had a son, Peter, from an earlier marriage.

She was a part of the famous Greenham Common peace camp in the early 1980s.

The all-female demonstrators hit the headlines after they pitched-up outside an RAF base in Berkshire to protest cruise missiles being stationed at the site.

She met her second husband, who had served in the Royal Navy, in Malta in 1981.

They were married in 1988 in Oxfordshire by which point Mr Sullivan was working as a commercial airline pilot. That job would later take him to the north-east.

Mrs Sullivan lectured at Aberdeen University where she taught English to foreign students.

Latterly, she cared for her husband following his diagnosis.

Mrs Sullivan was an engaged member of the community council and played a key role in the recent twinning project with the French town Acheres, even accommodating one of the delegates in her house.

She also played a big part in organising the New Year’s Day Nippy Dip.

Phil Mills Bishop who is the current head of the twinning group, said: “She was always so helpful and extremely supportive – one of those great community-minded people who didn’t ever want any recognition for her actions.

“I just saw her at the weekend and she had been hosting one of the French delegates from Acheres. We will all miss her terribly.”

BELOVED: An engaged member of her community, Christina, pictured with husband Mike, was ‘loved by everyone’