A Soham mum whose daughter was killed by a drink driver in 2016 says she is ‘learning to smile again’ thanks to the support she’s received from a local charity.
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Claire Danks spoke about the support she and her family received from Road Victims Trust to help them cope and recover.
Claire, who is now an ambassador for the charity, spoke in a video released this month by Road Victims Trust about the importance of the support her family received.
“I can quite honestly say that without their help I don’t know where we would be as a family today, I really don’t,” she said.
“The Road Victims Trust have had a very lasting impression on myself and my family for the support that they have given us.”
Claire’s daughter Lauren was driving home from her first evening shift as a senior beauty therapist at Centre Parcs, Elveden, when Nelson Curtis crashed into her car on the A11 in Barton Mills.
Curtis, from Lakenheath, was nearly twice the drink-drive limit and was jailed for seven years in June 2017.
“When I look back to the beginning, I now see us as a family that do smile together and we do laugh together," Claire added.
“I think that’s something that with counselling, enabled us to do.”
Road Victims Trust provides families with emotional and practical support following fatal and life changing collisions.
The charity has dedicated counsellors, helping families affected by road traffic collisions to rebuild their lives.
Last August, Claire met Cambridgeshire’s police and crime commissioner Darryl Preston to talk about the support she and her family received from Road Victims Trust.
When talking to him, she explained how the charity had given her family the tools to help rebuild a new life together.
“They have been a huge part in helping us as a family at the worst time,” she told Darryl.
“To be part of the Road Victims Trust is an honour, especially to support the charity so they can go on supporting other families at the worst time of their life, to bring awareness of the dangers on the road in memory of our daughter Lauren.”
The Trust is currently funded through the Commissioner’s Casualty Reduction Fund with £60,000 awarded during 2021-22.
For more information on Road Victims Trust, visit their website.
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