FORMER au pair Diane Carter was affected more than most by the trial of nanny Louise Woodward - because she feels it could have been her on the stand.

The mother-of-four from Blackburn could so easily have suffered the same fate as Louise when a stint working for a family in the United States went terribly wrong.

She said: "The guilty verdict sent shivers down my spine because it could have been me sitting in court instead of Louise. Just like me, she was left to look after children and something went wrong which wasn't her fault.

"What happened to me still haunts me today, 12 years later. When I heard the guilty verdict I just cried and cried."

Diane, 29, of Westbury Gardens, said that Matthew Eappen's death was "an accident waiting to happen."

She said: "With untrained nannies it was only a matter of time before a child died and the au pair was being blamed for it."

Diane was 18 with little childcare experience when she worked for doctor Wiley Ginkins III and his wife Loren on Galveston Island, Texas.

She was lonely, isolated, with no support from her au pair agency and unprepared for the shock of having to look after two young babies full-time and be a maid as well.

Diane was treated as a status symbol by the couple she worked for, who would regularly go off on holiday.

But she put up with her under-paid , under-valued job for the sake of the children she loved - until disaster struck when Diane was left alone with Adam, one, and Lindsey, two.

Diane said: "I will never forget that day as long as I live." She washed the babies and carried Adam through into the bedroom and placed him on the bed - but as she turned away for a second the toddler fell to the floor.

"There was blood coming from his mouth," said Diane. "I was in shock and I really panicked. I was cradling him, my adrenaline was pumping and I rang 911. I was yelling for someone to come."

Doctors discovered the youngster had just bitten his lip but the parents treated Diane as a child abuser and asked her to leave.

Diane said: "The injuries could have been much worse. The family didn't like it at all. They didn't speak to me. I got no sympathy.

"Later they realised it had been blown up and allowed me back."

She added: "I was in shock for days after the accident but Louise's shock will last a long time."

Because of her experiences, Diane is planning to start a Lancashire business employing only qualified and professional nannies to work for families abroad.

She said: "I don't want young girls to go through the same experiences as me."

She revealed that in the course of her business plan she rang numerous au pair agencies at home and abroad and was offered posts despite pretending to have no training.

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