Tragic last words of mum who fell 60ft to her death while taking dangerous shortcut as daughter pleaded for her to stop
A MUM-OF-FIVE told her daughter “I’ll be fine” just moments before falling 60ft to her death at a beauty spot, an inquest heard. Ruqayya Hussain, 18, pleaded with Tahira Jabeen, 46, not to climb down the steep slope close to the coastal landmark of Durdle Door in Dorset. People on the beach below also urged […]
A MUM-OF-FIVE told her daughter “I’ll be fine” just moments before falling 60ft to her death at a beauty spot, an inquest heard.
Ruqayya Hussain, 18, pleaded with Tahira Jabeen, 46, not to climb down the steep slope close to the coastal landmark of Durdle Door in Dorset.
People on the beach below also urged her to stop, with one yelling: “You’re going to kill yourself.”
But the Asda worker, of Birmingham, kept walking before slipping and hitting rocks on the way down.
Tahira, who was wearing black Crocs at the time, was about halfway down the cliff when she slid out of control and plunged onto the beach below.
Ruqayya took a photo of her final moments walking down the 120ft cliff and shared it with her sisters, saying: “Look what mum’s doing.”
An inquest heard the mum suffered multiple rib fractures and punctured lungs after hitting rocks as she fell.
An off-duty paramedic and ICU nurse who were on the beach performed CPR but she died at the scene at 3.25pm on June 14, 2021.
Ruqayya did not see her mother fall as she had been walking down the cliff steps at the time and had to be held back when she arrived on the beach.
The inquest heard Tahira had been wanting to visit Durdle Door for some time.
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She worked as a retail assistant at Asda and as a contract tracer for the NHS’s Test and Trace service.
She and her daughter arrived at the popular beauty spot shortly before 3pm as part of their family holiday.
Ruqayya said her mother thought she could climb down the cliff to Man O’ War beach rather than take the steps.
She said: “Mum made a comment of ‘I could climb that’.
“I talked her out of it, said ‘don’t be silly, it’s a cliff’. She had agreed to that but changed her mind ten seconds later.
“I tried to grab her, pull her away but if I had grabbed any more of her I would have fallen myself.
“She reassured me, said ‘I’ll be fine’ and continued to make her way down.”
‘I’LL BE FINE’
Ruqayya continued: “I could definitely recognise the cliff as being dangerous.
“From where we were it did look like more of a gentle slope and maybe something my mum thought was within her limits.
“At first I watched her make her way down, she looked in control so I decided to walk down and meet her at the beach.
“I went to the stairs, I kept looking back at her. I took a picture and sent it to my sisters to say ‘look what mum’s doing’.
“I couldn’t see her when I got to the stairs, which made me very panicked as I realised that maybe something had happened.”
Tourist Orn Jonasar was standing just a few feet away when Tahira started to descend the “very steep cliffs”.
He said: “Even going down the steps, because of the steepness, it’s not an easy process, you do have to take care.
“From the slope you couldn’t see the beach so I knew there must be a drop off. I wouldn’t have tried it even with climbing ropes.
“I shouted ‘you’re going to kill yourself’ but she had already started.
“There was no recognition, it was like I wasn’t there.”
I shouted ‘you’re going to kill yourself’ but she had already started.
Orn Jonasar
Off-duty paramedic Iain Gallacher said she continued to “zig zag her way across” before “losing her footing and sliding down on her hands and feet for about 10ft”.
She then hit a rut and “came totally down to the beach,” he added.
“She landed about 10ft from where I was standing.”
The inquest heard Tahira had left a violent relationship and raised her five daughters, aged 27 to 18, by herself.
As well as working two jobs, she had also gone to university in her 40s and was preparing to start her dissertation shortly before her death.
Her family later raised concerns about the lack of barriers or warning signs at the tourist attraction.
Assistant coroner Richard Middleton said he was satisfied that the route to the beach was clear, that there were signs highlighting the dangers and the risks were clear to others.
Lulworth Estate, which owns the land, said it had carried out further risk assessments since the incident and put in more signage.
Mr Middleton recorded a verdict of accidental death at the Bournemouth inquest.
Following her death, friends and relatives paid tribute to Tahira.
One said: “A caring and jolly person lost her life in such a tragic accident.
“A much loved and missed wonderful lady with a heart of gold.”
