Molly and Monika had been friends since they were both involved in the Aachen derailment in March 2006

They had been sitting opposite each other when the train derailed and Molly was thrown forward into Monika’s arms

This saved her life as if she had not been caught by the timid shop assistant then she would have been crushed as the carriage fell on its side

Although only five years separated the women yet their backgrounds could have not been more different

Molly came from a wealthy family in Southern Germany whereas Monika was an orphan who had been brought up in various institutions in and around Aachen

Monika had married at seventeen but the union did not last and she found herself homeless before her twenty-first birthday

But as luck would have it she was helped by the local church and she was not allowed to descend into despair

The opposite was true of Molly who was privately educated and after achieving a top class degree became a lecturer at the University of Cologne

Both women were slightly injured in the accident and spent a small time in hospital in adjacent beds

They promised each other that they would always keep in touch as fate had literally thrown them together

This bond was further cemented when Monika told Molly that she had almost missed the ill fated train as she mistaken the platform

In the years since the accident both women had married and Monika’s second marriage was as happy as the first was unhappy

Molly had married a professor at the university and in 2010 she gave birth to two daughters one of which she named Monika

In 2019 after years of disappointment Monika gave birth to a daughter who she named Molly in honour of her friend

The Aachen derailment of 2006 was caused by a split rail and because of this defect six people lost their lives

A memorial to the victims was erected near the crash site in 2008 and each year on the anniversary of the accident both Monika and Molly leave floral tributes in the small ornamental garden