Mother dies shielding daughter as tree branch falls in Blackburn park

A devoted mother died after pushing her five-year-old daughter out of the path of a falling tree branch in Witton Country Park, Blackburn, saving the child’s life in a split-second tragedy. Madia Kauser, 32, was walking with her husband and two children when a large branch from a beech tree toppled toward them. The young girl, who was in a pushchair, was shielded by her mother and survived unscathed, while Kauser was fatally injured. Her husband Wasim Khan and their nine-year-old son were nearby but unable to intervene in time.

Emergency services arrived at the scene on Preston Old Road and battled to save Kauser, but she was pronounced dead. The couple’s two children were unharmed, and relatives and friends gathered in the hours and days after the incident, which occurred on a Monday evening at a well-used park known to local families as a place for recreation and relaxation. The area around the fallen branch was cordoned off, and workers subsequently felled the remaining portion of the tree and trimmed nearby branches as a precaution.

Family and community members have described Kauser as a loving, devoted mother who would do anything for her children. Relatives have said that...