Tributes paid to ‘mother, daughter, midwife, friend and cycling fanatic’ killed in crash with driver of white van

Tributes have been paid to a ‘mother, daughter, midwife, friend and cycling fanatic’ who was killed after she was involved in a crash with the driver of a white van.

Helen Renton, 44, was riding her Trek bike near Dumfries in Scotland on Sunday (April 11) when she was hit by the van.

The mum-of-three, a passionate cyclist who regularly took part in charity rides, died at the scene of the crash, while the driver of the van and passenger were both uninjured. 

Helen’s best friend Suzi Sheerin told the Daily Record newspaper: “Helen simply loved life.

“She is a mother, daughter, midwife, friend and cycling fanatic.

"Her passion for cycling whilst raising money for charity was simply awe-inspiring.

“She is loved by many and will be so sadly missed.” 

Helen, mother to a young son and two older children, was cycling east on the A710 near Southwick at around 1.05pm on Sunday, when she was hit by the white Peugeot van being driven in the opposite direction. 

The road was closed for around nine hours while police carried out an investigation. 

Sergeant Leigh McCulloch, from Police Scotland’s Road Policing Unit, said: “Tragically as a result of this crash the cyclist has lost her life and our thoughts at this time are with her family and friends.

“Several people stopped to help at the scene and our inquiries continue to establish what happened. I’d ask anyone who saw the crash to get in touch with officers as a priority to help our investigation.

“I’d ask anyone who was recording with dash cam on the A710 who may have captured either the van or bicycle prior to the crash, to check their systems and provide officers with any relevant footage as soon as possible.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Police Scotland on 101 and quote incident number 1688 of 11 April 2021.

Helen studied Midwifery at the University of Nottingham and work at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.