"PLEASE don't buy them a powerful car, please don't pay for their insurance.

"These are powerful machines you are giving to your children and they could end up killing them."

The strong words of advice for parents come from a mother whose life was devastated the day her daughter lost her life in a speeding car.

Davina Adlem's feelings are so raw the tragedy could have happened yesterday.

It was, in fact, more than four years ago that dental nurse Gemma Adlem died in a horrific pre-Christmas crash near Wimborne.

"We loved her so much and now we are just existing. Our lives are over - when Gem died so did we. We are only still here for the sake of her sister or we would have ended this torture when we lost her."

Mrs Adlem said the pain will never get any easier and has given her backing to the Daily Echo's Too Young To Die campaign.

"I support anything which makes people think about the consequences of their actions. If parents could only imagine how I feel perhaps they would stop and think before they help their children buy cars they cannot handle and help them pay high insurance premiums.

"Young drivers think it's never going to happen to them but if any of them want to sit down and talk to me I'll tell them the reality of what can happen."

Mrs Adlem, who lives in Wimborne with her husband, Stuart, said they no longer socialise and she stays at home most of the time.

"I used to be a teaching assistant and was bubbly and had fun with the kids. Now I don't know from day to day if I can go out of the front door.

"The guilt is terrible and I know this is going to be my life forever. If Gemma can't have a life, how can I possibly go out to the pub or go on holiday?

"My future and my past has been taken away from me. I can't look at photographs of when she was a child because it is too painful. My head is full of Gemma."

Mrs Adlem said she and her husband were not allowed to see their daughter's body because of her horrific injuries.

When she insisted on knowing details, she was told: "Imagine an explosion inside your head." She has also heard "there were body parts all over the road."

"Wimborne is a small place and I have heard people talking about the accident," she said. "Can you imagine what visions you have in your head as a mum? I have to live with that forever."

The BMW in which 24-year-old Gemma died was driven by her boyfriend.

An inquest reached a verdict of accidental death and there were no criminal proceedings against the driver, who lost control after trying to avoid a pheasant on the B3078.

Mrs Adlem said she feels very strongly that the driving test should be made more difficult and that young people should learn to drive over a longer period of time, have lessons on motorways, country roads, in the dark and in the rain.

"I also think the driving age should be increased and young drivers should not be allowed access to powerful cars," she added.

"Vehicles should have speed-limiters fitted to them and parents should be warned more about the dangers of buying fast cars for their children."

Mrs Adlem said on the morning of December 14, 2003, her daughter called upstairs "Mum, I won't be long, don't go into my bedroom because I have your presents on my bed and I'll be back soon to wrap them." It was the last time she heard her voice.

"She was like a hurricane. She used to come in the door with a very loud voice and I would tell her about the volume - I would give anything to hear that voice now," said Mrs Adlem.

"We now have a different life - a life we don't want - a living hell. She was my world."

Mrs Adlem said neither she nor her husband are able to work any more and that Gemma's younger sister, Mia, is suffering as a result of the tragedy.

She added: "I just hope that people will take the time to think about what I have said and what our family and others like us have been through."