There can be no nightmare greater than the one the McCanns are currently living through. Throughout this Bank Holiday weekend I have found myself compulsively checking the news every hour just willing there to be a happy outcome to this terrifying abduction. Maddy’s continued disappearance haunts my every waking moment. The Portuguese police force has displayed a frightening and frustrating lack of urgency connected to this search operation, yet the quiet dignity and politeness shown by her parents I find truly humbling. I am driven mad listening to smug, self-righteous “know-it-alls” arguing how they would never leave a sleeping child to have supper 50 yards away. It’s hypocritical and the last thing these broken, devastated parents need is the finger of blame pointed at them. Nobody is perfect. If we’re honest we all take calculated risks with our children. We leave them sleeping in the car for a minute while we unload the shopping, we leave them in the bath to run out and answer the phone. Some parents have gardens larger than the distance the McCanns put between themselves and their daughter. When—for I will not allow myself to use the word if—this little girl is reunited with her loving family I hope the only sound her parents hear is that of delighted and relieved applause.
Sarah Standing
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