I had to hide tragic Lenny’s disfigured hands at wake
THE widow of a musician killed in a car accident caused by an 81-yearold woman has revealed how she had to hide his hands at his wake because they had been so badly disfigured in the crash.
Máire Ní Threasaigh recalled her husband Leonard ‘Lenny’ Nelson in a victim impact court after pensioner Moira Edwards, now 83, pleaded guilty to careless driving in October 2014.
Mrs Edwards had been visiting a neighbour when her car was in collision with another car as she emerged from a minor road. That car went into a tailspin, hitting an oncoming motorcycle which was being driven by Mr Nelson, 58.
Ms Ní Threasaigh gave her victim impact report to a hearing of Falcarragh District Court in Donegal. She told how her life had been changed utterly since her husband’s death and how one of the most painful things was having to cover the hands of the man who played several musical instruments during his wake.
She recalled how Mr Nelson, a technician at the Playhouse Theatre in Derry city, exuded an energy for life that was infectious. ‘I go to bed every night and I wake up to an empty pillow and is like being stabbed over and over and over again,’ Ms Ní Threasaigh said. She said she hoped her late husband was now in a place filled with light and music, and she read a poem that she wrote days after first meeting Mr Nelson.
Solicitor for Mrs Edwards, Kieran MacLochlainn, said that the widow has been unable to drive since the accident, and will probably never drive again.
‘She has had to live with the fact that she killed a totally innocent man and that he did no wrong,’ he said.
He said Mrs Edwards had no explanation for the accident other than she simply did not see the other car coming.
Judge Paul Kelly commended Ms Ní Threasaigh for her victim impact statement which he described as heartwrenching and beautiful.
‘I have little doubt that the events of this fateful night will live with Mrs Edwards for the rest of her life,’ he said.
‘This is an utterly tragic case, where two people of impeccable character came together with devastating and catastrophic consequences.’
He fined Mrs Edwards €1,000 and banned her from driving for four years.