Ella Kissi-Debrah: how a mother’s fight for justice may help prevent other air pollution deaths | Environment | The Guardian
Landmark ruling that toxic fumes killed nine-year-old Londoner follows long campaign for truth
Sandra Saville Wed 16 Dec 2020
Until now, the statistics on air pollution deaths have been presented in black and white – numbers on a page that estimate between 28,000 and 36,000 people will die as a result of toxic air pollution every year in the UK.
But the life and death of nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah is in full colour: from the pictures of her wearing her gymnastics leotard hung with medals, to the image of her mother and siblings holding aloft her photograph, when they no longer had her to hold on to, as they campaigned for the truth.
As Prof Sir Stephen Holgate told the coroner, behind the often-quoted statistics lie individuals whose lives have been cut short. “Every single number that goes into these studies is a single person dying,” he said.
