Lis Cashin accidentally killed Samantha Atherton aged 13 when she threw the spear at Wirral Grammar School for Girls in Bedington, Merseyside, on July 16, 1983
A former grammar school girl has relived the horrifying moment she pierced her friend's skull with a javelin at a sports day.
Lis Cashin, then aged 13, accidentally killed Samantha Atherton when she threw the spear at Wirral Grammar School for Girls in Bedington, Merseyside, on July 16, 1983.
At university, still haunted by the pain, she took ecstasy and went on long clubbing nights before being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and receiving counselling.
When Lis threw the javelin it shot up into the air and began to head down, before suddenly veering to the right.
Sammy, who had offered to mark the distance thrown and was now in its path, was distracted.
'Everyone could see what was going to happen,' Lis wrote in The Guardian.
'They screamed her name. In a split second, Sammy looked up and then ducked. I remember thinking: "Oh thank God, she's OK."
'But the javelin hadn't missed. It had hit Sammy just above the left eye. She stumbled forwards before collapsing. There was a lot of blood.'
Ms Cashin now works as a speaker for TLC Lions, which helps organisations challenge the stigma around
