Vigil for Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah on 23rd January 2022
- Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah
A candlelight vigil will be held on Sunday, 23rd January to remember Ella Adoo-Kissi Debrah on the eve of what would have been her 18th birthday. It will take place at the bandstand at Mountfield Park, SE6 (off Brownhill Road).
Ella died in 2013 following almost three years of seizures and numerous hospital admissions. She lived close to the South Circular Road in Lewisham, South East London.
On 18 December 2020, Deputy Coroner Phillip Barlow ruled that Ella died as a direct result of air pollution. On the day of the ruling Ella’s mum, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi Debrah said “We’ve got justice for Ella which she so deserved but, there are still illegal levels of air pollution, as we speak, so this matter is far from over. Rosamund’s campaign continues.
On the day of the verdict her lawyer, Jocelyn Cockburn commented on the long legal journey and the scepticism they had been met around the possibility of linking air pollution to an individual death. Jocelyn said “Because of this ruling air pollution can no longer be ignored and overlooked as a factor that has real impact on individual human beings, especially the vulnerable…”.