A grieving widow has revealed how she was pressured to rearrange her husband’s funeral with out understanding the circumstances of his demise. Louise Liddle was simply 39 when her husband John died following a collision on the A694 Lockhaugh Road at Rowlands Gill in Gateshead.
Earlier this 12 months, Newcastle Coroner’s Court heard that the 44-year-old dad was turning proper into Sherburn Park Drive on his bike when he was struck from behind by a minibus that was overtaking. He was taken to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) following the incident in May 2023, however died following accidents to his head. No felony costs had been introduced in opposition to the driving force. Louise stated: “I had a funeral for my husband without knowing how he died. Police couldn’t tell me anything because they hadn’t been able to interview the driver.”
“My kids were six and nine at the time and wanted to know how their dad had died but I wasn’t able to give them those answers. My eldest had his ninth birthday in the hospital with John in the ICU.
“It was terrible considering ‘please do not die in your son’s birthday’. He was in a coma then and we knew that he wasn’t going to get up from it.
“But in all that time I don’t know what had happened to my husband. I had a funeral to organise and no idea how I got in that scenario.”
Louise even felt compelled to maneuver from her Rowlands Gill residence as a result of trauma of the incident, and relocated to Stocksfield, Northumberland.
She additionally found there was no standardised protocol for a way companies working within the bus sector would handle deadly accidents, together with each psychological well being and authorized help for drivers caught up in distressing conditions.
She maintains that issues concerning the minibus driver’s authorized illustration resulted in police having to attend greater than 9 weeks earlier than they may formally query the driving force.
Louise stated: “As a country, we don’t have a quality framework for how bus companies should be conducting themselves, so how can you then get consistency? It all comes to a head when someone is killed. It’s very traumatic.
“But as a result of there’s not the quantity of those incidents occurring – it isn’t every single day {that a} bus causes a fatality – I believe there’s not sufficient consideration being paid to it.”
She is now advocating for improvements in how the bus sector responds to such tragedies.
Louise is collaborating with the bus industry in a bid to introduce several reforms, including guaranteeing all bus operators supply suitable legal representation for drivers involved in serious accidents.
She is also urging all firms to provide proper psychological and professional assistance for drivers caught up in traumatic incidents, and prevent scenarios where drivers resume work prematurely without adequate support.
Louise stated that whilst such measures are already being adopted by some bus operators, she is hopeful that an industry-wide standard can be established that all bus firms must adhere to.
She is also advocating for consistent safety, training, and conduct requirements as prerequisites for securing public transport contracts.
Paying tribute to her husband, Louise said: “The ironic factor is we used to name him Captain Health and Safety. I am unable to consider someone who was so protected has been killed in such a means.
“He was always so risk-averse. I was the one who would take the kids mountain climbing while he would be saying ‘let’s go to a cafe’. He worked in finance, so he had to be risk-averse and measured; it was just his nature.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2131697/widow-heartbreak-husband-funeral-not-knowing-death