Published: Friday, 16th May, 2008 4:00pm

Mum I'm safe don't worry

by Alan Bunce

Comments (0) | Print | Email

A RELIEVED mother has said you never stop worrying about your children after her daughter emailed her from China to say she was safe following an earthquake.

Jennifer Ball, 20, had been travelling around China after doing a foreign exchange programme from Sheffield University to Hong Kong University.

Her mother Joanna, from Park Avenue, Wokingham, received an email entitled 'Safe and well don't worry' from Jennifer on Monday afternoon just hours after a huge earthquake devastated Chengdu city killing thousands of people.

Joanna said: "I, my husband Martin and Jennifer's sister Kate have all been very anxious and there were lots of tears.

"But I had to laugh when Jennifer sent her email. We had real trouble using the internet when we visited her in Hong Kong at Christmas, yet for just £1, she was able to send me the message from a Chinese hostel."

"Even when Jennifer is at Sheffield we worry about her, but she is very outgoing and gregarious and this trip has been a great way for her to establish her independence."

Jennifer, who went to the Abbey School in Reading, was hiking on a mountain called Emei Shan not far from the epicentre of the earthquake which happened at 6.30am (GMT).

She said in the email sent at 3pm GMT: "We were on the mountain when it happened and it was so scary it was almost surreal. We heard, but didn't see, a huge landslide and the earth was moving and vibrating. Our path up the peak was blocked so we came back down pretty quickly."

She also said she had become more scared once she accessed the web and realised the scale of the damage. Jennifer is due to return to Wokingham on Friday, May 30, but is currently waiting to see how badly the transport systems are affected.

She has promised her mum she will act sensibly and the family have stressed that their thoughts are with people in China who have not been so lucky.