'Come forward, for Chloe's sake'

From: Conventry News, UK
Oct 12 2002

By Catherine Turnell

Little Chloe Buck hugs her dad's photo-graph as she goes to sleep at night.

The deaf five-year-old doesn't understand why he hasn't kissed her goodnight.

Her hero father Ralph Potts, aged 55, died a week ago saving her from being knocked down as she ran in front of a motorcyclist - but the panicked rider sped off.

Yesterday her distraught mum, Patricia Buck, aged 36, who was separated from Mr Potts, made an emotional plea for the rider to come forward to help with the police investigation into the tragedy.

Chloe ran into the path of the motorcycle near her dad's home in Eld Road, Edgwick, Coventry, on Friday afternoon last week.

Mr Potts ran after her and managed to push her to safety but was hit by the cycle. Despite the efforts of emergency crews, he died in hospital an hour later.

Ms Buck said Chloe was struggling to understand what had happened and deserved to know what happened. She urged the driver to contact the police.

"All I can say is come forward - just think of that little girl," she said.

"She no longer has a dad. Do it for her sake, for when she's older and needs to put her mind at rest.

"Chloe's just devastated. All she's doing is pining for him. We've fetched all her toys from the house and she just throws them down, getting angry. All she wants is her dad - she's sleeping with her dad's photo.

"She's been asking me to

telephone him for her. It's heartbreaking for me to see the way she is."

Mr Potts, a storeman at Coventry's Phoenix Logistics, was taken to Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital after the 4.45pm accident, but died an hour later.

Subsequent appeals by police and Mr Potts's brother Keith, have so far failed to encourage the motorcyclist to come forward.

Ms Buck, of Valley Road, Stoke Heath, added: "The whole family is devastated. All they want is this man to come forward.

"He turned round after the accident. He knows what happened. It's been on TV, in the papers and Teletext, he must know.

"It was so close to Chloe, it

could have been her. Would he still have driven off? He doesn't need to be scared but a man's lost his life and Chloe's lost her dad. Ralph lived for her and he died for her: that's how it was.

"I've told her dad's in Heaven, but she still asks where he is."

"Every time a motorbike goes past she screams and signs 'motorbikes are bad'. I'm just devastated she saw it all happen."

Detectives have said they understand how the rider would have panicked after the accident and driven off and are anxious he should not be afraid to contact them.

Anyone with information should phone Stoney Stanton Road traffic police on 024 7653 9020 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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