Diane Cash (l) & Natalie Blewitt (r)
Diane Cash Remembering Baz Middlebrook.
One sunny April day I unlocked the gate ready for my partner Baz to arrive home from work on his motorbike.
He'd added GPS on our phones so we could see how far the other was from home, I noticed on GPS he had stopped a few miles from home.
Panic set in instantly, I jumped into my car but got stuck in traffic, ambulances and police sirens flew past. I felt frantic as I saw two air ambulances fly over and land ahead. I left my car and ran screaming towards the unknown scene ahead, I phoned my daughter screaming at the top of my voice that Baz was dead.
I ran in front of an oncoming police car, begging them to take me to the man on the motorbike. He told me to get into the car and another officer joined us to tell me that my partner Barry Middlebrook had died.
All hell let loose.
I was hysterical, shouting, sobbing, screaming I just wanted to be with him. It was two days before I got to identify Baz, how I wished he'd just wake up. This never-ending nightmare, no Baz to hold my hand and tell me everything would be all right.
My life changed beyond recognition, I was left grief-stricken and lonely, I felt vulnerable and scared and the worst was expecting Baz to walk through the door at any moment. I often cried myself to sleep.
My daughter found RoadPeace. Lucy and Jane were my saviours, my first phone calls knowing someone was there, at times unable to speak, tears would roll down my face.
RoadPeace helped me talk about my fears and feelings.
I can now laugh without feeling guilty, but when I have a bad day they're still there to listen while I pour my heart out. We made friends for life with the members of our group who understand the shared pain of losing a loved one on our roads.
I have so many precious memories and photos of Baz, he was a huge fun character who I am so proud to have shared my life with.
Natty Blewitt: My little cousin.
The first thing you'd notice about James Thomas Mulvaney was his piercing blue eyes and beautiful smile. Also athletic, James was a keen runner and ran for Birchfield Harriers.
He was the baby of our family.
Six weeks after passing his driving test, James picked up his friends and took them out for a drive. He lost control of his car on a country lane, a split-second distraction.
He clipped a gutter causing the car to crash through a fence, flipping several times down a bank, leaving James fatally injured. He was just 17- years-old.
At the time, the country lane had a speed limit of 60 mph. After several similar deaths, the speed limit was reduced to 30mph.
It's hard to describe the devastation of that day. James arriving at the hospital, the crash team desperately trying to resuscitate him.
His sister ran screaming out into the ambulance bay, the fiercest grief I've ever seen, raw pain etched across her face, as our worse fears became reality.
James was dead.
It felt so unreal, someone so young gone instantly. I remember wanting to see him so much. I will never forget seeing his poor broken body.
A crash changes life instantly, our happiness was gone.
RoadPeace holds families together at times of complete desolation. Our RoadPeace family understands the pain and offers support in the form of phone calls, meetings and memorial services, which help us rebuild our shattered lives.
RoadPeace is the rainbow after the storm.