Tributes paid to devoted nanny

Jun 26 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

TRIBUTES were paid yesterday to a devoted children’s nanny who was killed in a horrific road accident which left the little girl she was looking after seriously injured.

Qualified nursery nurse Moira Ward, 43, died when the car she was driving collided with a lorry carrying a 40-tonne load of timber on the A696 at Milbourne near Ponteland on Monday afternoon.

Her four-year-old rear seat passenger, Libby Clement, had to be cut free from the wreckage of the Mazda but survived, despite suffering multiple fractures.

Mrs Ward, who lived with her husband Ray, 47, in the seaside village of Cresswell near Druridge Bay, Northumberland, was employed as a nanny by Libby’s parents, Kathryn and Ian Clement of Newcastle, to look after her and her brother Oliver, seven.

At the time of the accident it is believed Mrs Ward was taking Libby on an afternoon trip into the countryside.

Mrs Ward and her husband moved to Northumberland from their previous home in the Midlands 11 years ago through his job as an analytical services manager.

Since then she had worked as a private nanny to the children of several professional families in the Tyneside area, travelling daily to their homes from her house in St Bartholomew’s Close, Cresswell. She had been with Mr and Mrs Clement for more than two years.

Yesterday Mr Ward fought back tears as he described his wife as a kind and thoughtful person who was much loved by her family and friends.

He said: “Moira always thought about others rather than herself and was loved by everyone she met. She loved architecture, taking photographs, art and nature. She also loved travelling and seeing new places and experiences.

“Her most recent thing was a Take That concert which she went to in Newcastle. She thought that was wonderful. She was the type of person who was made happy by the smallest thing.

“We have no idea what caused the accident and have been told it could be three months before we hear anything.”

Mr Clement, 41, a consultant in critical care at the Royal Victoria Infirmary and General Hospital, both Newcastle, who lives with his 37-year-old wife and their children in Montagu Avenue, Gosforth, said they feel incredibly fortunate to have Libby, but a deep sense of loss over Mrs Ward.

He said: “Moira is like a family friend. She doted on the kids and they doted on her. They were very close and she has been a big part of our lives for the past two-and-a-half years. I know she idolised the children and they loved her.

“Moira was always very careful about strapping the children in, and I know that played a big part in Libby surviving.”

Libby is being treated in Newcastle General for neck and leg injuries. Her condition was yesterday described as serious but stable.

Police inquiries are continuing into the cause of Monday’s accident.