Mum claims she is haunted after snapping orphaned GHOST GIRL who 'wanted to be her friend'
A MOTHER claims she is still haunted by the spooky image of an orphaned ghost girl she unwittingly photographed three years ago - because the ghoul wanted to be her FRIEND.
Hannah Butler, 24, snapped what appears to be a dark-haired youngster dressed in white huddled by a tree during an organised ghost walk around Hessle Foreshore woods in East Riding, Yorks, in 2013.
And the spooked mother-of-one admits she is still fearful of the girl - who she says regularly appears in her thoughts and dreams - despite now living hundreds of miles away in Maidstone, Kent.
Ms Butler, who is mum to 15-month-old daughter Emma, said she still feels pangs of guilt for running away from the ghost girl - who she now believes may have wanted to be her friend.
Ms Butler, who is currently looking for work, said: "My friend Georgina wanted to do this ghost walk, so I ended up going a long for a laugh.
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"Our guide showed us this tree, and told us that some people had seen the ghost of a little orphan girl there who is looking out to sea waiting for her daddy.
"I just snapped away at the tree, I must have taken about ten photos. I was wandering around, looking through them, and then I saw it.
"I thought I had just imagined her. It wasn't on any of the other photos. Then I started freaking out. I was so shocked.
"I showed Georgina and she showed the rest of the group. Of about 15 people, at least ten were convinced too and were freaked out.
"Some people thought I was a mole because it was an organised walk, but I had been as sceptical as some of them.
"I started crying and had to leave. I stayed over at my friend's for a few days after that because I was so scared."
Her photography, taken at about midnight, shows what appears to be the figure of a forlorn young girl aged five or six.
And Hessle Foreshore woods overlook the Humber River, lending weight to the tale of an orphan child looking out to sea for her lost father.
Ms Butler said: "This will sound mad but I actually went back in the daylight the next week with my friend and the guide to the same place.
"We made our own 'yes' and 'no' board, and the guide asked out loud if the girl wanted to be my friend. The answer was yes.
"I suddenly felt so guilty. It sounds strange, but if it was her then she showed herself to me for a reason. Why me? And I just ran away."
Ms Butler said since then the mysterious orphan girl has appeared regularly in her dreams - and said the snap has forced her to change her outlook on whether ghosts exist forever.
And the mysterious image even left previously-sceptical partner of three years Chris Billings, 25, totally baffled.
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Ms Butler said many friends and some social media users now also believe in ghouls after viewing her creepy photo online.
She said: "It sounds silly, but after that night I have had dreams about the girl. She's been on my mind a lot.
"I think of her often, and I still dream about her. I don't think she will ever leave me.
"I felt guilty for leaving Hull and moving away. But then I'm 300 miles away now and feel like she could be anywhere around me.
"If there was a dark room, I would always be scared that she was there in the corner, and I still feel like that at times.
"It's still like that now, even though I live hundreds of miles away from there.
"Chris is the most sceptical person, but even when he looks at the picture he can't find an explanation. There was just no explanation. I don't know what to believe any more.
"And then I look at the picture and it's definitely a girl. I've tried to find an explanation but I can't."
