THE dad of Berkshire rail carnage victim Emily Webster yesterday revealed the last terrifying moments of her life.
Peter Webster said: "From nowhere there was a flash of light. I saw Emily flung from her seat and catapulted out of the broken window opposite us.
"There was nothing I could do for her. My baby was gone."
Devastated Peter had taken excited Emily, 14, to London shopping with her pal to buy clothes and Christmas presents.
But two cruel twists put them on the 5.35pm from Paddington, which hit a car on a level crossing at Ufton Nervet.
Peter, pictured right, had planned to drive from his home in Devon—but had problems with his car and decided to take the train.
And he wanted to come back on the 6.35pm, but it was fully booked so they all boarded the ill-fated express to Taunton.
Emily and her friend had been looking forward to the trip for weeks. And Peter saw it as an opportunity to spend a day out with his daughter.
He said: "I didn't want to risk driving all the way up there and came close to cancelling the whole thing.
"Looking back, it was a twist of fate. But in life you can't worry about everything that's going to happen."
Peter, 49, is also consumed with guilt over an earlier incident on trip—when he told Emily she could not get a particular pair of boots because of the price.
He said: "The girls went off to Covent Garden and as we prepared to leave Emily told me about the boots.
"That's when I told her they were too expensive. I told her that, if she only had £50 she couldn't spend £90.
Chatting
"What father, in my circumstances, would not now feel guilty for not letting her have them?"
Despite chatting happily with the girls on the train, it is something he will always regret.
Peter, a property developer, is adamant Emily would have been saved in the crash—which left seven dead—if trains had seat belts. He is determined to convince rail bosses to fit the safety measure—and the News of the World is backing his campaign.
The dad of three said: "Emily would be alive today if she had been wearing a belt. The impact lifted her out of her seat. If she'd been strapped in, she would have stood a chance.
"It is said only a few rail passengers are killed compared to car deaths. I know we are just one family, but the devastation for us is immense.
"Belts on trains would cost £30million. That's nothing compared with the total cost of the crash."
The dad relived the horror by saying: "Suddenly the train began to shudder for no apparent reason.
"Emily had an adventurous spirit and for a second or two seemed excited by the sudden motion.
"But within seconds her excitement had turned to horror. We were in the fourth carriage, and what was about to happen can only be described as pure hell. The impact buckled the carriage and then it tipped over on its side at a crazy angle.
"Fellow passengers were thrown about as if they were caught in a huge spin dryer.
"I told Emily and her friend to grip hold of the table between us for dear life. But neither of them replied.
"I couldn't see them. Then it got worse as our carriage careered past the three damaged coaches in front and we ended up next to the engine."
Emily, of Moretonhampstead, Devon, was thrown out. Peter, 49, continued: "I saw her friend was trapped.
Excelled
"Her legs were caught under the seat and I thought they were going to be torn off. She was screaming in agony.
"I was in that overturned carriage for two hours. My fears were for Emily. I didn't know she was dead."
At last Peter was freed. He added: "Then I saw her—she was with a medic. He told me she was dead."
Peter said he will NEVER recover from the death of his daughter—"my little star who lit up everyone's life".
He added wife Anna and sons Tim, 24, and Tom, 21, were inconsolable.
Emily was a star pupil at The Maynard private school for girls in Exeter, where she excelled at maths, English and sport.
Millions of TV viewers saw her recently on BBC's Hard Spell with Anne Robinson. Peter said: "Her loss will last for the rest of our lives.
"We'll constantly be thinking about what Emily could be doing if she was with us now."
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