Whilst exploring Blantyre’s history, I’ve been shocked by the amount of young children who were sadly run down or injured by vehicles as rural streets gave way to vehicles. Particularly on Glasgow Road. This story is one of those tales, but I wanted to raise awareness of it, as not only was the event so sad in itself, but the circumstances that followed at the hospital were told throughout Blantyre for some time after.
I’m going back to Thursday 17th December 1931. The week before Christmas and 9 year old Mary Mains was playing near the street. She was the daughter of a ship’s wireless operator, who was at sea at the time. Young Mary lived with her mother at 43 Bruce Terrace, Low Blantyre. Suddenly, she was knocked down by a heavy motor lorry. Barely moving, she was rushed unconscious to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary when she stayed unconscious for some time. On the Saturday afternoon, some 48 hours later, the little patient stirred in what was to be a brief moment of consciousness.
Her mother was at the bedside and holding her hand explained what had happened. Mary, seemed to acknowledge what was happening and the child said her prayers calmly, then turned on to her side, and still holding her mother’s hand, passed.
The touching story, moved me so much when I read the reporters comments, that I wanted to share it here. Heart breaking to think of her mother alone, that Christmas with her child gone, and husband away. Blantyre remembers this little angel. RIP Mary Mains.