Keane Wallis-Bennett: Friends hold birthday party

Keane Wallis-Bennett's friends and families celebrated her 13th birthday party. Picture: Hemedia

THE mother of Edinburgh schoolgirl Keane Wallis-Bennett, who died when a wall collapsed on her at Liberton High School, has revealed how her friends cried as they sang Happy Birthday at a party on what would have been her 13th birthday.

Keane had started planning for the celebration before she turned 12, with friends and family gathering on Saturday night in Edinburgh to remember her.

At the party, held in George Street’s Why Not club, a five-minute silence was held after Keane’s Song - the track recorded by her friends as a tribute - was played.

Keane’s mother, Abbie Wallis, told The Sun how her pals sang Happy Birthday after 13 sparklers on a birthday cake had gone out.

She added: “There were some tears. It was very emotional — but I think she would have loved it.

“Keane had her heart set on this. It’s exactly what she planned for her 13th before she even turned 12 and I really wanted to make it happen.”

Ms Wallis brought along a photo of Keane at her school prom, with around 100 friends and family gathering to remember the schoolgirl.

Her mother added: “It made me feel like she was at the party.

“Keane always wanted her party in a nightclub. It was all she spoke about. This was a chance for her friends to come along and celebrate while they remembered her. I think she would be over the moon.”

And Ms Wallis admitted that planning the birthday party with family members, including Keane’s dad Clark Bennett, had been a source of comfort.

She said: “I think it helps me to know she got the party she dreamed of. She knows we don’t forget about her.”

A health and safety probe was launched after Keane’s death, and over 400 people attended her funeral. Boyband One Direction also sent a message of condolence to the memorial.

The 12-year-old died in April 2014 when a free-standing wall in the school’s PE department collapsed on her.

The gym hall has since been demolished, but in another incident at the school, a 12-year-old boy suffered a broken neck as goalposts fell on him in the school’s gym.

Alan Ramsay faces at least two months in a neck brace after the goalposts collapsed, briefly knocking him out and leaving bones sticking out of his neck and mouth.