Mandy Gale

It was 19th February 2018 and I took my dog Ralph out for his normal walk but for some reason I turned right instead of left.

As I walked to the main road, I saw flashing lights and crowds of people both sides of the dual carriageway.

I kept on walking and I saw a body in the road. People were taking photos and videos on their phones.

I saw the blankets covering the body, it looked like they were glowing like an angel.

I thought to myself it was truly a blessing that people from the nearby bungalows had taken blankets to cover the body over and I went to bed giving thanks that the body had been covered.

I had a normal day at work, people asked if I knew what had happened the night before and I said yes, I commented about the blankets and heard it was a hit-and-run by a driver with no insurance. 

My mum called me at work and said she hadn’t seen my dad as they lived separately. I mentioned the scene the night before, but mum said she had already called the hospital and police and had not heard anything.  

My dad would walk Ralph first thing in the morning so I went home to check to see if he’d had an accident at my house, but there was no sign.

I decided to go over to the bungalows where the body lay the night before and asked if a black man in his eighties was killed the night before.

“Yes,” was the response.

I was confused and unable to stop my brain from running so fast, I couldn’t understand or take any information in. I went on autopilot to go and tell everyone it was my dad and he was dead.

How to feel, how to breathe, how to stop crying…

The place where my dad was killed is a place I would see most of the time as I lived across the road.

But my dad is in my heart, not the road.

The court was the only time we heard anything about what had happened and how the driver had denied killing my dad. To kill someone while racing with another car. He hit my dad while he was trying to slow down at 62mph.

He lied to the police saying it was the other car and even that my dad jumped out in front of him.

Police said he showed no remorse but because he pleaded guilty, he got a third off his sentence. He is free now with just a driving ban of four years. Police said they found the car and contacted his parents, asking for him to hand himself in within 21 hours, then he would get a more lenient sentence.

This is where I can't understand what happened on that day, it will be in my head and heart forever. I don't get any discount for that. I don't get any time to put my grieving to rest. Seeing and hearing ambulances and police cars makes me scared to go out. For killing someone the sentence should be much longer and the driving ban should be 15 years plus.

They should have a black box fitted to any car they drive and be sent back to jail if they do anything else wrong driving. My dad was more than just the person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, 19th February 2018 was the day my dad was killed. No goodbyes or hugs, no last words.

I found RoadPeace and was invited to a meeting, no pressure to say anything. As soon as I entered the room, the feeling of being with people that could understand my pain stopped my brain from racing and I could breathe. I could feel the confusion in my head had slowed down, so I could think clearly. RoadPeace has saved me, my life, my sanity.