Vanessa McAloon’s husband Jim couldn’t prevent running her over after she was struck by a car on the wrong side of the road as he followed her on a celebratory bike ride
It should have been one of the happiest days of Vanessa McAloon’s life – a motorbike ride with her man to celebrate the all-clear from cancer.
But as they rounded a corner in their countryside spin all that joy was cruelly ended in a horror crash that snatched the mum of two away – and will haunt her devastated husband Jim forever.
Vanessa’s bike hit a car coming towards her on the wrong side of the road – and as she fell on the tarmac, Jim, following behind, could not avoid running over her.
It was a horrifying moment he will never forget – and one which has wrecked his life forever.
Not only has he had to cope with crippling grief at losing the love of his life – but also shattering post-traumatic stress disorder which has seen him lose his business and a home.
Added to that was the agony piled on by the car driver refusing to admit being at fault.
Jean Williams, 84, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving last month at a crown court trial where Jim and daughters Sophie, 19, and Becky, 24 – along with Vanessa’s parents Rosemary, 77, and Alan, 81 – were forced to face their loss all over again – and the agonising way it happened.
“Every day I relive her death. I ran over my own wife,” says Jim, 52.
“In a split second she fell right in front of me. I had nowhere else to go. I had to tell everyone – her parents, our daughters. We were numb for weeks.
“Since then my whole life has fallen apart. I have PTSD, my business went bust and I’ve had a house repossessed. I have no idea what I’m doing.
“I know Jean Williams didn’t kill my wife on purpose. It was an accident. But she has never shown remorse or apologised and that has made our grief even harder.”
Vanessa, 48, had everything to live for that day in November 2016 after what had been a frightening two months.
In September, she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, had a mastectomy and began chemotherapy.
“My wife was a strong person,” says Jim “I cried when we were told she had cancer. She went, ‘I’ll survive; it’s all good.”
Sitting next to him, daughter Sophie, a career, adds: “Mum dealt with it all so well it was easy for us to deal with it too.”
And in November came the news they longed for.
Vanessa was told she was cancer-free – although doctors planned to complete the final round of treatment as a precaution.
And also she had just achieved an ambition – her application to become a driving examiner was successful and she was to start in April 2017.
“Everything had come together – we were happy,” Jim said.
But that all changed on November 27 as the couple, both motorbike fans, headed out on their celebratory ride via the rural A4075 in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales – Jim on a Yamaha YZF Thunderace while Vanessa rode a Yamaha Fazer.
They rounded that fateful corner to see Williams on the right-hand side of the road in a Vauxhall Corsa, overtaking a tractor.
Jim recalls: “I saw my wife’s back wheel shudder, then she bounced off the front of the car.
“In a split second she fell right in front of me. I ran straight over the top of my own wife and landed all the way down the road.
“I hobbled back, screaming, ‘Help me, please’.
Police, paramedics, and an air ambulance arrived. I had a suspected cracked pelvis but I refused to go to hospital.
“The driver came over, saying, ‘It’s not my fault, I didn’t see her’.
“I said, ‘My wife is dying here, please go away.’ Everyone tried their hardest to save Vanessa, but she never regained consciousness from the minute she hit the car.”
Jim says having to tell Sophie and Becky “was the hardest thing I’ve ever done”.
Sophie recalls: “It was the worst moment. Then Nana called for her usual daily chat with mum.
“I had to tell her I’d phone back as I couldn’t break the horrible news.”
Becky – Vanessa’s daughter from a previous relationship – was 200 miles away in Devon choosing a puppy which she had discussed with her mum the previous evening.
Recalling Jim’s phone call, Becky said: “My mind went into overdrive. It was just too much.”
In the aftermath, Vanessa’s daughters rallied around Jim.
Sophie, who had planned to live with friends, moved back in with him at the family’s rented farm to help him cope with injuries that left him unable to walk for weeks.
She says: “He was so isolated in that big house with nice memories. Without mum’s love, kindness and humour we all feel empty.”
They later moved into another property he and Vanessa had let. Three weeks after the crash, Williams was arrested.
In the months that followed, Jim, of Saundersfoot, South West Wales, struggled to cope.
He said: “I was lost. I sat there day after day, tortured by memories.”
Doctors diagnosed him with PTSD. He was prescribed medication and counselling. “Witnessing the effect of this on dad has been awful,” says Sophie.
Jim’s stove fitting business went bust. Living on £73.40 a week in sickness benefits, he has had one of two homes he owned repossessed and his current house is now at risk.
The trial at Swansea Crown Court has only added to his agony. Williams was given a suspended two-year sentence and two-year ban.
Extended family including two of Vanessa’s siblings, David and Susan, sister-in-law Jane and nephew Jake turned out to lend their support.
Judge Geraint Walters told Williams Jim had to “live with the horror” of running over his wife.
Jim says: “I knew they’d never send an 84-year-old to jail, but somehow I still couldn’t believe it. If she’d admitted it and apologised our attitude towards her would be different.
“There is a big problem with older people on the road. Many don’t have the same reactions as younger drivers. We must introduce strict testing.”
Drivers over 70 must fill in a self-assessment form every three years to renew their licenses – this doesn’t include a medical or driving test.
The family is now pushing for compulsory driving tests and medical reviews
Now, in their grief, they treasure memories of the horse-loving daughter, mum and wife lost that day – and, in a poignant twist, heartfelt letters Vanessa secretly wrote to every family member after she was diagnosed with cancer.
Jim only discovered them in her handbag a month after her death.
(Mirror)
