‘Amazing’ mother, 56, dies after falling out of her camper van and hitting her head on French holiday

• Angie Dowsett, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, had been touring with her husband
• The couple pulled into truck-stop near Le Mans in the northwest when she fell
• She was immediately taken to see a specialist but later died in hospital

A woman has died after falling out of her camper van and hitting her head on the kerb while she was on holiday. 

Angie Dowsett, 56, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, had been touring around France with husband, Malcolm.

Today, her son paid tribute to her as an ‘amazing’ mother. 

Angie Dowsett, 56, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, died after falling out of her camper van while on holiday

Angie and her husband had been travelling in a camper van and had pulled into a truck-stop near Le Mans in northwestern France on Friday, September 27. 

As they parked up, a man knocked on their window asking for medication.

Malcolm told him that they did not have any but Angie, who her family say always wanted to help people, insisted on having a look.

But as she climbed down the stairs of the vehicle she fell and hit her head on a kerb.

The mother-of-three immediately fell into a coma and six paramedics arrived on the scene shortly after.

Malcolm said that the language barrier had made it difficult to explain the situation but that he had been told to wait for the police to give a statement.

In the mean time, his wife was taken to see a head specialist in the city of Angers which was 60 minutes away. 

Malcolm was later forced to call home to tell her children, who he was step-father to, about the accident.

Her two sons, Ross and Carl, were told by sister Kayleigh about their mother’s condition.

She had been touring around France with husband, Malcolm, when she fell out of their camper van and hit her head on the kerb

The pair had been parked at a truck-stop near Le Mans (pictured) in the northwest when she fell while searching for medication to help a passerby 

Ross, 25, said: ‘When my sister messaged me, I knew something bad had happened.

‘Mum got in a lot of accidents as she was quite a clumsy person so I thought it might not be a big deal.

‘When I heard what she had done my heart sank.

‘All I wanted to do was get on the phone to my stepdad or my mum and just talk to them.

‘[Malcolm] said she had gone into a coma and a neuroscientist said she would not have long to live.

‘My sister broke down at that. I kept asking questions to Malcolm while looking at flights and travel.

‘My brother broke down.’

Ross had been keen to understand exactly what had happened so asked a friend, who was fluent in French, to contact the hospital and find out.

He discovered that Angie had suffered a bleed on the brain and he asked the doctors if they could place her on life-support so the family could say goodbye.

The request was granted and the three siblings as well as two uncles and aunt all flew over to France.

Ross said: ‘In 20 minutes we had packed our bags. 

‘I say bags but all I had was a t-shirt, a change of underwear, a pair of jeans and my passport.

‘It was the same for my sister but my brother did have to go back and get his passport.’

Her son Ross Jones today paid tribute to his ‘amazing’ mother (Angie pictured with husband Malcolm)

Speaking about when they arrived, he said: ‘We went and saw my stepdad. I gave him a cuddle and spoke to him to make sure he was okay.

‘It was a sad situation.’

A doctor then went to see the family and explained that unless there were any signs of improvement they couldn’t operate.

They were advised that there were three potential outcomes for Angie.

The first was that if there was improvement they could operate and the second was that she would remain in a coma in a vegetative state – which the doctor explained was the most likely.

But unfortunately for the family, it was the third outcome, which saw the swelling on the brain continuing and it eventually suffocated the main artery in Angie’s the brain.

She was pronounced dead at 5pm on October 1.

Ross said that although her family were upset, he was glad her suffering was over.

He added: ‘I was relieved at that time. 

‘We had seen her on the Saturday, Sunday and most of Monday.

‘Saturday was the worst day. Speaking to her and getting nothing in response.

‘Knowing I was never going to get a hug or a kiss from her or that I would never hear her sayings. 

‘The doctors said that in a coma the last thing to go would be the hearing so if there was anything we wanted to say, we should speak now.

‘They said keep laughing in the room and playing music, making her feel good.

‘We can’t tell if that ever worked – we just have to assume it did.’

The family were later advised to say their goodbyes. 

Ross said: ‘It was the hardest thing I have ever done.

‘I said we knew she would always be looking out for us.

‘I knew she would miss me getting married and having children, but I said I knew she would always be there for me and we would always make her proud.

‘We told her how much we loved her and that she was a great mum.

‘We put about her on Facebook so we told her we wished she could see how much people loved her.

‘She suffered from a little bit of depression and would say she had no friends so we said we wish she could many people love you right now.’

Ross says he will always remember his mum for the generous person she was.

‘She was a healthcare assistant and helped deliver babies. 

‘People would stop her in the street and in Tesco saying you helped deliver my baby.

‘Mum and dad split when I was young. She was lovely – she would always make sure there was food on the table.

‘She was always up for a laugh and would come to watch me play football on a Sunday. She didn’t like football, she was supporting me.’

He added: ‘She always said we can do anything we want if we work hard for it.

‘She had such a hard work ethic and passed that onto her kids. It is the same with her kindness and selflessness.’

Angie’s body remains in France because the couple did not have insurance.

The family are now hoping to raise £4,000 to bring her back to Stevenage, Hertfordshire, where her children live.

Ross said: ‘She said she wanted to be cremated in Stevenage. That’s where the family was brought up. Its home – she always wanted to be there.

‘We have said our goodbyes so we want to give others the opportunity to as there are lots of people who haven’t.

‘Mum always put herself last so we want to let her be first for once.’

A GoFundMe page has since been set up to help with the costs. 

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