Charity in bus victim's name helps children to walk again

An MP's wife told today how her mother, who was knocked down and killed by a bus in west London, would have been "delighted" by the charity set up in her memory.

Victoria Bacon, 39, whose husband is South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon, started Elizabeth's Legacy of Hope with her twin, Sarah Hope, after the death at Mortlake bus station of Elizabeth Panton, 65, to help amputee children.

Mrs Hope was badly hurt in the accident in 2007 and her daughter, Pollyanna, then two, lost part of a leg. The charity, backed by actress Joanna Lumley, Mrs Bacon's cousin, aims to improve the lives of children in Britain and the developing world who have lost limbs.

Mother-of-two Mrs Bacon said: "Mummy would be really delighted. She was always encouraging us to help other people - and she was always helping people."

The family recently visited the first project to benefit, in Tanzania, where £25,000 has been pledged to The Friends of the Children of Tanzania for a new limb centre, including a kiln and moulds for prosthetic limbs. Mrs Bacon said: "Our work in helping amputees is a small but vital part of giving those who need it a much better life."

Lumley said: "Elizabeth would be so proud of her girls."