The daughter of a primary school teacher who was murdered almost 30 years ago in the Dunblane shooting has said her mum showed “enormous courage” while trying to protect children in her class.
Gwen Mayor died when gunman Thomas Hamilton burst into Dunblane Primary School on March 13 1996, killing the teacher and 16 children.
Mrs Mayor is one of eight Scots to be posthumously awarded the Elizabeth Emblem, which was introduced last year for public servants who died in the line of duty.
Her daughter Debbie says her mum showed “enormous courage and bravery” in the face of danger on the day of the shooting.
She told STV News: “We don’t know what happened that day but we know my mum and she would have done everything she could to have protected those children.
“One of the small solaces I get from my mum is that someone had to go with the children to look after them, so she’s always looking after them still. That’s really the only comfort I can get.”
STV NewsDebbie has fond memories of her mother, describing her as “a very vivacious person, very kind, very creative. Quite a gentle person, very sociable.”
She said: “I remember going with her to her classrooms, she used to go at the end of the summer, and she would be decorating her classrooms.
“She liked to make her mark on it, she’d have ‘Mrs Mayor’s Class’ and she would put a lot of work into that.
“She used to play the piano for the kids, there was a lot of personality in what she did.
“A lot of ex-pupils have fond memories of her, as a special teacher.
“It’s always nice to hear nice things about her that you haven’t heard before.
“There was a story about how somebody she used to visit, I think it was an ex-colleague, and she had knitted a little cardigan, I think for her son. The son got in contact with me to say he still had this cardigan that my mum had knitted for him.
“It’s nice to hear other people’s memories.”
In the 30 years since the Dunblane shootings, Debbie says she is always “amazed and humbled” by those who remember her mother.
STV NewsDiscovering her mum was to be recognised for her bravery with the Elizabeth Emblem, she said the family felt “emotional” about the honour.
“Our lives were turned upside down forever. My mum never got to meet her grandchildren, she never saw my sister and I get married or graduate,” she said.
“It felt very emotional to find out she was going to receive the award. We are all very proud. We’ve lived with this for 30 years.
“The thing about the award is it recognises unsung heroes who aren’t equipped to be in situations where their life is in danger.
“My mum was a teacher and we never lived in fear of her going to her job and never coming home. But that’s what happened.
“She was faced with great danger and her instinct was to protect. She showed enormous courage and bravery.”
STV NewsIn the years that followed the Dunblane shootings, the Snowdrop Campaign saw victims’ families successfully lobby for a ban on the private possession of handguns.
The petition, signed by more than 700,000 people, was named after the only flower blooming in Scotland at the time of the shooting.
It is a legacy that follows the tragedy and Debbie hopes the Snowdrop Campaign has thwarted any threat of violence on that scale occurring again in a UK school.
“I would loathe anybody having to go through that again. These were innocent lives, innocent children. It’s just catastrophic, and the impact of that on people’s lives is far more far-reaching than what happened that day.
“If you can do anything to prevent that from happening again, I think it’s worthwhile.”
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