Still not sure about this one - it’s just really sad.

A couple of weeks ago I was going to write about something I saw on one of the mornings when I walk into work. On Camberwell New Road, pretty much half way between Camberwell and Oval, bunches of flowers were tied to a lamppost -  someone’s died, obviously.

As you approach, you also see the collapsed front garden railings of the house adjacent to the lamppost. What’s happened is now slightly less clear - there has been a spate of teen killings in South London over the last few months and one’s first thought is along these lines. But the flattened railings have obviously been hit by a vehicle. First guess here is that the motorist has died. However the flowers also go all the way up the front stairs, up to the front door of the house.

And then you see the Evening Standard newspaper cutting, placed behind perspex and tied to the lamppost.

Grandmother killed saving dog
Published: Wednesday, 30 May, 2007
LONDON: A grandmother died after she was knocked down outside her front door when a car careered onto the pavement.
Eileen Elliott, 67, died only months away from her golden wedding anniversary. Witnesses said she stepped into the path of the oncoming car to try to save her dogs as they returned home from a walk on Saturday.
Stanley Elliott, 75, heard his wife’s scream and ran outside in time to hear her last words: “Oh Stanley, please help me.”
She died at King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill after the collision at about 3.55pm.
Eileen had returned home after walking her two dogs, Josh and Lucky, along Camberwell New Road, in south London. Witnesses said a light-coloured BMW careered off the road after colliding with another car.
The BMW was believed to have been breaking the speed limit. It had to swerve to avoid a head-on collision with a taxi after it drove onto the wrong side of the road while attempting to overtake another vehicle.
But the BMW clipped the taxi and its driver lost control, sending it smashing into the railings of the Elliotts’ front garden.
Eileen, who had 14 grandchildren, stepped into the car’s path to pick up her five-year-old dog Josh, saving its life in the process. But she and six-year-old Lucky were killed.
Stanley said: “We have been together almost every night for 50 years. I am heartbroken. We had seven children together. She was my soulmate. I don’t know how I’m going to cope. I have been close to suicide.”
Stanley said he was inside their house when he heard a screech of tyres and an “loud bang”.
He said: “I ran straight outside. I knew something terrible had happened. I could not believe what I saw. Our dog was squashed dead on the pavement and my wife had been knocked to the ground. She was groaning as I held her. She said ‘Oh Stanley, please help me’. That was the last thing I ever heard her say.”
Twenty-year-old student, Jailong Bao, appeared in court on Monday charged with causing death by dangerous driving in connection with the crash.
Bao, from Norwich, was also charged with driving without a driving licence, driving without insurance, and without MOT. He was bailed to appear at Inner London Crown Court on July 31. – London Evening Standard

The tragedy of the thing just hits you. You read the story and you see the devastation right there. You’re not one step removed, reading it on the train, or in the pub. It’s right on top of you and it’s almost too powerful to deal with.

There was another bloke there as I was reading. He took a picture of the article in its setting between the flowers. I couldn’t, for some reason. I wasn’t sure about writing about it either, but I’m still thinking about it, so I figured I should.