Lancashire Telegraph: Review of the year 2014

A teenager was back at home with a new heart, two months after she was given only a five per cent chance of survival. Emily Linaker, 14, of Hoghton, had been on the waiting list for a transplant for several months, but an operation became urgent after her heart deteriorated so quickly, it left her on the brink of death. Mum, Sam said they felt like the luckiest family on the planet after a donor heart became available at just the right time and she urged others to sign up to save lives.

7

MPS called for police and mountain rescue teams to search Pendle Hill for unexploded Second World War bombs after a walker found a mortar shell on farmland. He raised the alarm and an army bomb squad was called to the scene in Sabden. The Royal Logistics Corps sealed off the area as two technicians wired up the device, believed to date from the 1940s for a safe detonation. Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said: “It’s a big safety concern and we need to make sure Pendle Hill is safe.”

9

Colne’s blues festival was named the best of its kind in Europe. The annual Great British Rhythm and Blues Festival, which takes place over the August Bank Holiday, was named Best Blues Festival at the European Blues awards. The event has been held at The Muni and several fringe locations, for 24 years.

10

A multi millionaire offered a £250,000 award to help catch armed robbers who raided his home.

Jason Cropper, the founder of Blackburn e-cigarette company Totally Wicked, said he was prepared to hand over the cash for information that led to the conviction of the gang. Mr Cropper was tied up when the masked raiders, armed with crowbars, burst into his house and escaped with his Range Rover, two gold bars, worth £50,000, three watches and £70,000 cash.

15

A teenage couple who went missing from school, jetted off to the Caribbean. The 16-year-olds, Edward Bunyan and Indira Gainiyeva left Stonyhurst College in the Ribble Valley in the early hours of the morning in a taxi before boarding a plane at Manchester Airport. They were later traced by police to a hotel in the Dominican Republic and after meeting with their parents, returned home.

16

A four-year-old girl praised for her quick thinking after saving her mum from serious injury has become the youngest person to receive a top police award. Lexi Cooper has received a Divisional Commander’s Commendation after ringing 999 when her mum was knocked unconscious after a bookcase fell on top of her. Mum-of-three Nicola Ellis, 25, was trapped and not moving at their home in Blackburn. When Lexi could not rouse her, she used a mobile phone to ring the emergency services.

18

This little sheep is ‘baaa king mad’. Roy, who has been hand reared actually thinks he is a dog and rounds up all the other sheep on Rayhead Farm in Bolton-by-Bowland. He was saved from slaughter by Clitheroe landlady Lisa Evans, who runs The Horseshoe Inn, after she fell in love with him while visiting the farm. She said: “Roy is just like a dog, I do not think he knows he is a sheep.”

FEBRUARY 12

Mum Chloe King, 20, and her boyfriend, 26-year-old Lee Wright, were questioned on suspicion of manslaughter, after an 11-month-old baby Ava Jayne Marie Corless, was mauled to death by a dog.

She had been left alone in an upstairs bedroom, when the illegal pit bull type dog struck at the house in Emily Street. Paramedics and police fought to keep the little girl alive, but she was pronounced dead at Royal Blackburn Hospital. Distraught dad Dean Corless described her as a ‘lovely, beautiful, smiling, laughing’ little girl. The dog was later destroyed.

12

A former soldier who lost both his legs in an explosion in Afghanistan, became the first person in the UK to be fitted with a revolutionary prosthetic knee.

Gregg Stevenson, 29, of Foulridge, said the new joint would help him actively play with his two year old son Harry, for the first time. He also hoped it would help realise his dream of returning to work as an engineer. Gregg was identified as the ‘classic’ patient for the £70,000 knee, which was funded by the Ministry of Defence. Programmed from a laptop it allows users to move from walking, to jogging, to running.

19

A coroner called for a rethink on the decision to switch off the lights on the M65 at an inquest into a motorway crash victim. Michael Singleton said he would send a report to the Highways Agency following the death of Burnley born Mark Burgess, who was thrown from his car after hitting the central reservation of the motorway, near junction 8. An investigation found he was two and a half times over the limit when he crashed, but Mr Singleton, senior coroner for Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley said that those ‘caught up in the carnage’ afterwards, would have had a better chance of avoiding the debris if lights were on.

27

A little girl from Padiham became a national star following a mobile phone network campaign to encourage sharing silly stuff with loved ones.

Jolie Forrest was the face of the new Three advert, set to Starship’s 80’s power anthem ‘We Built This City’. The five year old and her pet kitten Bronte performed the purrfect duet while riding her pink bike. Mum and dad Jodie and Adam said the youngster, who beat off competition from 600 other youngsters at auditions, was enjoying her stardom.

MARCH 1

Doctor Mark Walton captured a display of the Northern lights over his Burnley home, a day after returning from a trip to Scotland to see them. Spectacular red and green lights of the Aurora Borealis lit up skies across East Lancashire, the result of a strong magnetic storm. The amateur photographer and his wife had been delighted to see a few faint flickers of green as part of their journey in the Highlands, but he was stunned at the vivid multi coloured display on show back at home.

The triple spread of colours, rarely seen outside of the Arctic Circle, lasted for around 40 minutes from 10.30pm. The band of colour even included a y red glow which is a very rare colour to see with the lights 6 Strongman Mark Felix helped Clayton Park Bakery celebrate national pie week. The world record holder for the dead lift and former British strongman champion from Rishton, flexed his muscles and pulled two three and a half ton delivery vans across the company car park. Mark, who tips the scales at 23 stones consumes 8000 calories a day in training.

12

The disgruntled wife of an East Lancashire motorbike fanatic uploaded a sarcasm laden advert for the machine online.

Alison Raynor was given free rein to write the ad when husband Tony, boss of Blackburn based Abbey Telecom, decided to sell his pride and joy Triumph, which attracted bids of up to £10,000. Alison said of the bike: “The selfish git has spent several kitchens turning this into an overpowered drag sofa. The paint job alone cost the price of a holiday in the Riviera.”

14

A couple only realised they were going to be parents on the day their baby arrived. Catherine Urch, 22, went through her entire nine month pregnancy without her or her boyfriend John Parkins realising she was expecting. The arrival of little Samuel Edgar came as a complete shock. Said John, a former pupil of Clitheroe Royal Grammar School: “I took Catherine to hospital thinking it might be a kidney stone and now I’m a dad.”

18

A Clarets fan, believed to be the oldest in East Lancashire celebrated his 107th birthday. Hartley Eastwood marked the milestone with a party at the Burnley nursing home where he resides and enjoyed a visit from the mayor, Coun Frank Cant. Born in 1907 in North Street, Burnley, Hartley was named among the oldest men in the country.

24

Youngsters from St James CE Primary School, Blackburn, left their mark on history by writing their names and drawing pictures on the floor of the neighbouring St James Church. Their doodles and signatures were to be hidden under the carpet and left for future generations to find, as an improvised time capsule.

27

Two specially trained police officers were to be permanently stationed in Blackburn’s emergency department days after an increase in physical violence and verbal abuse to staff. The £80,000 project was agreed following the number of call-outs made to the police by staff at the Royal Blackburn Hospital. Problems were being caused by drunken and abusive patients who frequently attended the casualty department.

APRIL 8

Helen Lambert of Colne, had the shock of her life when a figurine bought by her husband David at a car boot sale for £2 was sold at auction for more than £4,000. The Royal Doulton ‘spook’ ornament was first valued by antiques experts from the BBC’s Flog It event at £300. But when it went under hammer, the piece, a rare blue glazed RD prototype, made in 1922, caused a bidding frenzy.

11

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans broke down in tears as he was cleared of nine sex charges against young men, including rape. He emerged from Preston Crown Court to tell the assembled media that he had gone through 11 months of hell. Evans, who had denied all the charges, pledged to get back to his day job.

16

The number of adults and children being provided with emergency food in Lancashire contributed to a 238 per cent rise across the north west. The total of those receiving three days emergency food from food banks jumped from 41,000 in 2012 to 138,000 in 2013, with the figures for the red rose county, where there are food banks in Blackburn and the Ribble Valley, rising to 7,973.

18

Cheers and bells rang out across Blackburn to welcome the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh for one of the most important Royal engagements of the year.

Thousands lined the streets with flags as the couple who arrived at the railway station before making their way to the cathedral for the Maundy Thursday service. 88 men and 88 women from across East Lancashire received coins to mark their dedication for their churches and communities.

25

The owners and customers of an iconic pub and neighbouring restaurant could only watch in horror as a massive fire destroyed them both. Sixty firemen tackled the blaze at the Dressers Arms and Little Hong Kong restaurant in Briers Brow, Wheelton. They piped water from the canal more than half a mile away and a flying drone was used for the first time to give them a live feed of hot spots.

MAY 2

An investigation was launched after four children were taken to hospital after contracting e-coli during a lamb feeding event at the Huntley’s store, farm attraction in Samlesbury. Contact with animals was suspended after 11 cases of e-coli 0157 being confirmed by Public Health England.

12

A huge blaze at a recycling plant caused traffic chaos as plumes of smoke billowed over a main road and housing estate. More than 50 firefighters battled the flames for several hours at Enviro Skips in Accrington Road, Burnley after 200 tons of rubbish caught fire.

They were forced to cut a hole in the side of the building to gain access after the alarm was raised at 5am.

15

A six-year-old girl who had undergone 38 operations after developing a rare kidney disorder was given the gift of life by her grandma. Ella Chadwick from Rossendale received a new kidney from 59-year-old Christina Chadwick. The youngster, the daughter of Martin and Karen Hughes, had been battling congenital nephrotic disorder since a baby.

Her body had already rejected one of her father’s kidneys, which he had donated in 2010.

17

The parents of young cancer battler Sam Shaw of Hoddlesden spoke of their relief and joy after the five year old was given the all clear. It was the news Christine and Carl had been waiting for after the youngster spent four months in Philadelphia receiving treatment, paid for by fundraisers.

27

Pet lovers celebrated the lives of their animals with the Rev Graham Sawyer, vicar of St James, Briercliffe, Burnley. The ceremony took place at a Horses and Ponies Protection Association site.

June 5

A school assembly took an unexpected twist when a firefighter proposed to his girlfriend on stage.

Paul Brown enlisted six of his colleagues and members of his new fiancee’s class. Sirens were sounded outside Avondale primary school Darwen, before the stage curtains were pulled back to reveal a banner held by Kelly Wilson’s year four class. The 36 year-old - the couple have two children - a special support assistant, said she was overwhelmed.

13

Moorhouses Brewery in Burnley, brought out a special beer to toast the Tour de France, which skirted East Lancashire. It rolled out ‘On Yer Bike’ to celebrate the historic race hitting our shores for three days and race visitors were keen to sample the French bierre de garde style cask ale.

16

Burnley’s Race for Life raised more than £55,000 for Cancer Research. More than 1,000 women and girls braved pouring rain to compete in the 5k event at Towneley Park, won by nine-year-old Ella Thornley. Ten days later, the Blackburn race attracted 1,600 runners to Witton Park, raising a mammoth £75,000.

19

Thirteen children and a teacher needed treatment for electric shocks after an incident at a Burnley primary school. Anxious parents descended on Briercliffe primary after hearing of injuries caused by metal door handles and hand rails following power cuts in the area. Electricity North West began investigations.

• Don't miss tomorrow's Lancashire Telegraph for the second half of our review of the year