This strange and compelling series of events happened in North
Yorkshire in the late 1960s. Mary and Kevin Firmin had been happily married for
16 years when Kevin sadly died from throat cancer. Mary had nursed him at home
for his last several months and Kevin passed away at 3pm that Christmas Eve.
Mary,
now widowed, would spend the next 12 years, on Christmas Eve, paying homage to
her husband Kevin. It was on the 13th Christmas Eve, Mary agreed to spend
the day with her widowed sister, Joan. Both had grown up sons. Mary’s son Michael
had long left his family home and was married, whilst Joan’s son, Gordon, was a
confirmed bachelor, who still resided with his mother. So, Gordon too, would be
spending Christmas Eve with his mother and his aunt Mary.
It
was after the sisters and Gordon had had lunch on Christmas Eve, that the women
took a walk to the local shops, and it was then that Mary saw something rather
bewildering and rather disturbing. It began with a strange buzzing in her ears,
as she looked across to the church and graveyard where her husband was buried.
She saw an apparition of her dead husband Kevin. He was dressed the same as he
was when he was alive, even down to wearing the jumper Mary had knitted him. He
made a hand gesture towards another figure standing behind him. The figure was
that of Gordon, her nephew, whom she had just had lunch with. Mary was
absolutely stunned at seeing these ghostly apparitions and Joan noticed Mary
acting as though she was in shock. Mary was unable to talk so Joan led her
sister to the nearest café so they could sit down. Mary was unable to tell Joan
just what she had seen.
Mary
had always wanted to see her husband after he had passed but after seeing his
apparition with her nephew, she wished she hadn’t.
When
Mary felt more settled, both women returned to Joan’s hone and listened to the
radio. Gordon had gone out in his van to meet up with some friends of his. Joan
then asked Mary if she fancied popping down to the local pub and Mary agreed.
As they got closer to the pub, they saw Gordon’s van parked outside and
presumed that they’d see Gordon in the pub.
They
were unaware of what was going on inside the pub and as they entered, they saw
Gordon’s friend Terry. Joan asked after her son and Terry took both women
outside, where some people were waiting for an ambulance, alongside Gordon, who
was sitting against a brick wall and was unconscious. The sirens of the ambulance
were heard as Joan took her sons head in her hands and knew he had died.
Mary
virtually passed out that evening, due to the death of her nephew, her poor
sister losing her only child and due to seeing her husband’s apparition, who
gave her a horrific forewarning of the death of Gordon.
