Katelyn Weldon, of Town End Farm, Sunderland, died in road accident (From The Northern Echo)

Katelyn Weldon, of Town End Farm, Sunderland, died in road accident

8:36am Monday 15th March 2010 in

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A WOMAN has told how she tried in vain to help an 11- year-old girl who was killed in an accident with a car at the weekend.

Katelyn Weldon, of Town End Farm, Sunderland, was on her bicycle when she was struck by a Vauxhall Vectra.

Her mother was present at the time.

The tragedy happened just before 9pm on Saturday at the junction of Blackwood Road and Washington Road, not far from her home.

Primary school project coordinator Sharon Smith, 34, was outside her house when the accident happened.

She said: “I heard the bang and then the mother screaming so I went up and called 999.

The man who had been driving looked distraught. He had his head in his hands.

“I sat with Katelyn until the ambulance got there and was pushing her to pull through but she was not conscious.”

Ms Smith knew Katelyn because her three daughters, aged 11 to 15, attended Town End Farm Disco Dancers with her.

She said: “I was brokenhearted when I was opening my Mother’s Day presents because I know what Katelyn’s mum would be going through.”

Katelyn attended Bexhill Primary School and lived with her mother, Claire, in Berwick Avenue.

The tragedy has devastated friends, family and neighbours who remember her as a happy child who used to sing, dance and bounce on her trampoline.

Barry Nelson, a 35-year-old joiner, who lives next door, said: “She was a really lovely little girl with a beautiful smile. We used to call her Britney Spears because she was always singing and dancing.

“This is a real tragedy and the whole community will be affected by it.”

No one else was injured in the incident, and the road was closed for three hours while accident investigation work took place.

Northumbria Police are seeking witnesses. Anyone with information should call 03456-043-043 extension 66747.

■ A TEN-YEAR-OLD boy who suffered a badly broken leg in an accident with a Toyota Corolla in Benfieldside Road, Blackhill, near Consett, just after 6pm on Friday remains in hospital with a plaster cast on his leg.