Mum Colette Wiggin described her pain and heartbreak at the loss of both her three-year-old daughter, Isla, and her unborn son, after a lorry ploughed into their car on the motorway.
The lorry was being driven by Thomas Hunter, who only has one arm and was using a hook in place of his left hand to drive.
Pregnant Colette and her daughter were in her Vauxhall Mokka on the A34 in Oxfordshire. They were stopped in traffic at the time of the collision.
Dashcam footage from the lorry showed that Hunter did not slow down prior to the collision. The court heard he did not notice traffic slowing down ahead and did not apply his brakes until it was too late, according to The Mail Online.
In a harrowing victim impact statement read at Oxford Crown Court, Colette revealed her heartbreak at loss of both of her children.
Talking about her daughter Isla, she said: “Even at the age of three, she was my best friend – we did everything together. My perfect life was ripped away from me due to a thoughtless act from another. I remember saying to Isla, ‘Oh dear, that lorry’s going a bit fast’. I can’t remember anything after that."
"She was as perfect a daughter you could ever wish for," Colette said.
“Beautiful and witty, yet cheeky and mischievous, she was a character that you couldn't help but love with all your heart.
“Isla put her heart and soul into everything, and all of her friends were 'best friends' who she adored."
Isla suffered severe brain trauma in the crash, and her condition deteriorated in hospital.
Her mum Colette went through the most heartbreaking ordeal imaginable – losing both of her children within the space of a few days.
“On August 27, we had to make the most agonising decision to turn off the life support of our beautiful daughter. On August 31, I delivered our son, who had also died as a result of the accident,” she said.
She described how devastated the family were by the loss of their unborn son, whom they called Harry in accordance with Isla’s wishes.
“We were extremely proud to find out that we were going to have a son, who would have completed our family. He had big hands and strong arms, and no doubt would've grown into a strapping young man who would have loved and protected Isla.”
Hunter was jailed for six years for dangerous driving causing death.
Our hearts go out to Colette and her family, they have been through unimaginable pain and suffering.
