PICTURED: Boy, 3, who died after being hit by tractor on farm as mother pay tribute to ‘affectionate boy who loved to play’

  • The collision took place on a farm in Tottington, Bury, yesterday afternoon
  • Officers attended and the boy was tragically pronounced dead by paramedics
  • Cordons at the scene have now been lifted and the driver is assisting police 

A three-year-old boy who died after a collision with a tractor on a farm in the Tottington area of Bury has been named as Albie Speakman.

Greater Manchester Police were called by North West Ambulance Service shortly before 12.45pm yesterday after an ambulance had been signalled to stop by a vehicle carrying a seriously injured three-year-old child on Rochdale Old Road.

Officers attended and the boy was tragically pronounced dead by paramedics before he could be taken to hospital.

Albie’s mother Leah described her son as an incredibly loving, affectionate and caring boy who just wanted everyone to be happy. 

A three-year-old boy who died after a collision with a tractor on a farm in the Tottington area of Bury has been named as Albie Speakman. Pictured with mother Leah

Albie’s mother Leah said described her son as an incredibly loving, affectionate and caring boy who just wanted everyone to be happy

‘He was so sensitive and wanted everyone to be okay, especially the people that he loved,’ she said.

‘He loved to play – whether it be with his family or friends at nursery – he would always look for little round things wherever he went, stones, polystyrene balls, bouncy balls, beads – I’m not sure why but he just loved anything round, he would just hold onto them.

‘His favourite memories are at Cleethorpes beach, with his bucket and spade and his ball. His happiest days were on that beach, we were so free and didn’t have any cares in the world. It was just me and Albie and nothing else mattered.

‘Whenever I’d ask him what he wanted to do, he’d want to go on holiday to the beach again; that’s how I know he was truly happy there.

‘We all love Albie so much more than we can ever put into words – especially his Nan and his ‘Nanny-Nanny’, as he would always call her.

‘I will miss absolutely everything about Albie, his voice, his smile, the smell of his skin and the feel of his little hands on my face when he would say ‘I love you mummy girl’.

‘We all love Albie so much more than we can ever put into words – especially his Nan and his ‘Nanny-Nanny’, as he would always call her’

‘I’m not sure how to carry on this life without you but I will find a way to be strong for you and make you proud,’ his mother said

‘I’ll especially miss going on adventures with Albie, anywhere and everywhere we could have fun; nothing will ever fill the whole that he has left in our hearts, we are broken beyond repair.

‘I always call him my little sunshine boy because he has brought so much light into my life and he is my little ray of sunshine, and I don’t want his life to end here, I need to carry on living for him and take him with me wherever I go. We still have so many more memories to make, Albie!

‘I love him so much and I know he will find his way back to me someday, somehow, because we need each other. Until then I will look for him in everything I do and I will celebrate his life.

‘I’m not sure how to carry on this life without you but I will find a way to be strong for you and make you proud.’

Enquiries yesterday quickly established that Albie had suffered his critical injuries following a collision with a tractor on farmland off Bentley Hall Road.

A car carrying the three-year-old managed to flag down paramedics on Rochdale Old Road, Bury (pictured), but he was sadly pronounced death before being taken to hospital

The driver of the tractor is assisting police with enquiries and a scene remains in place at the farm while investigators from Bury CID work to establish the circumstances of the incident  alongside colleagues from the Health and Safety Executive.

A scene was in place on Rochdale Old Road to allow for initial enquiries to take place. The cordon has now been lifted.

Specialist officers are supporting the family of the boy, and Greater Manchester Police ask that the family’s privacy is respected at this devastating time.

Chief Inspector Ian Partington, of GMP’s Bury district, said: ‘This is a heart-breaking incident that has seen a young boy tragically lose his life and my thoughts go out to his family and loved ones who will be utterly devastated by today’s events.

‘Despite his family flagging down an ambulance while driving him towards hospital quickly as they could, the boy sadly could not be saved after the best efforts of paramedics; I can’t imagine how distressing this was for those involved.

‘We are working to ensure that a full investigation is carried out, and the farmland where we understand this incident to have occurred remains cordoned off to allow our investigators and partners from the HSE to conduct thorough enquiries to establish exactly what has occurred here.’

Strangers on social media have flooded to send well-wishing messages to the boy’s family, describing the collision as ‘tragic’, ‘awful’ and ‘heartbreaking’. 

To add to the tragedy, there are reports of a second, unrelated collision on Rochdale Old Road at the time that they boy’s family made paramedics aware of the boy’s condition. 

A Greater Manchester Police car was also in collision with another vehicle as officers drove to the scene, as part of the emergency services response..

A number of people in the car were taken to hospital as a precaution, but no police officers were injured, GMP said.

The three-year-old was involved in a collision with a tractor on farmland off Bentley Hall Road (Stock image)

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