A Fatal Collision

We were approached by a Family Liaison Officer who was coming to the end of her work with Sarah who had been widowed due to a Road Traffic Collision.

Initially the widow had not wanted to engage with us but eventually, we met up and gained her trust, taking things one step at a time. Part of this process was to get a Chief Superintendent to visit her with us, to listen to her experience with the Police Force and the investigation. He was able to go away and try to answer some of her questions about the investigation and to explain some of the processes she was impacted by. Sarah told us that this really helped her.

At the same time, we were working with Janet who was the driver of the other vehicle. She had plead guilty at Court to causing Death by Careless Driving. Janet spent quite some time working with us but eventually decided that RJ would not be in her best interests and pulled out of the process via text message. We knew that Sarah would have benefitted greatly and it was a real shame that we could work further with Janet, so we contacted the person who was first on scene and who was with Sarah’s husband when he died.

Amanda is a retired paramedic and she met with us and talked about how as a paramedic she would often wonder about the loved ones of the people she dealt with and that not ever getting a back story made her work feel remote and difficult at times.

Finally, after lots of preparation, the Sarah and Amanda met each other face to face. They talked about the moments after the crash and what kind of injuries Amanda saw and what help was given at the scene. Sarah was able to fill in blanks and learn things she had not known. They shared pictures of the deceased and talked about his life. Both ladies reported feelings of positivity after their meeting and both stated they felt more able to move on since their meeting.