Seamus Armstrong said he was in his back garden when he heard his name being screamed by neighbours as his wife Valerie had just left to take the dogs for a walk
A man in Belfast has shared the heart-wrenching moments he lost his wife after she was struck by a scrambler bike in a forest park, as part of a new campaign to eradicate this illegal “scourge”.
In July 2016, Seamus Armstrong was in his back garden when he heard his name being shouted by neighbours across the road from his house. His wife Valerie had just left to walk the dogs before the family went out for dinner, with Seamus’ neighbours urging him to go to Colin Glen Forest Park.
Upon his arrival, he saw paramedics tirelessly trying to save his wife before she was rushed to hospital. However, despite the surgeons’ best efforts, Valerie couldn’t be saved and Seamas had to deliver the devastating news to his children that their mum would not be coming home.
Seamus recalled: “It was one of my days off work, I had been in the back garden looking after the kids. It was quite sunny and warm and we had the wee swimming pool filled up and the kids had a couple of their wee friends round and were all messing about in the pool. I had decided I was going to make a wee greenhouse out of some wood and glass that I had got together.”
The grief-stricken husband then detailed: “Valerie was on morning shift in work and due home around 4pm or so. I was out the back, Valerie arrived home and helped me put a few pieces together then decided she wanted to take the dog on a walk. I decided also we were all going to go out for dinner that night, and when I said the dog had already been for a walk and to go have a cup of tea, she said no I’m gonna have a walk and a shower and then go out for dinner.
“I said OK, I’ll get the kids out of the pool and have them ready for when you get back. Within half an hour I heard neighbours across the street screaming my name and I looked over the fence and they said Seamus you need to go round to the forest, it’s Valerie.
“I could see two or three, what was actually four paramedics working on her on the ground.”
He went on: “I got brought up to a seperate room where surgeons came and sat me down and said Mr Armstrong your wife’s injuries are terminal there’s nothing we can do that will save her. We have three different surgeons and have seen injuries of this magnitude before in previous cases and nobody comes back from it.
“I had to go home the next day and tell our kids that mummy wasn’t coming back from the hospital. I didn’t take them down to see her when she was in ICU, I didn’t want that to be the last memory of their mum, hooked up to wires and pipes.”
Seamus’ account features in a fresh video designed to combat unlawful scrambler bike usage in Belfast, produced by Colin Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) members working alongside community representatives, youth services and local schools, reports Belfast Live.
The initiative is part of Op CHICQUER, launched by the policing unit, which has delivered encouraging outcomes with fewer scrambler-related incidents recorded not just in West Belfast but citywide, showing a 29.8% drop in cases between 2023/2024 and 2024/2025.
The PSNI states that Op CHICQUER highlights how effective community involvement and youth education can be when combined with the delivery of legitimate scrambling courses.
It’s understood that 70% of those committing illegal scrambler offences are between 12 and 18 years old.
