Parents came to terms with cruel loss so bravely
TO lose one of your children is awful but Jo’s parents Gordon and Jean have been remarkably brave and positive. They love looking after Cuillin and Lejla, and, with Jo’s sister Kim and her partner Claire, they are deeply involved in the Great Get Together and More In Common initiatives in Yorkshire. Life has buffeted them, though. The morning after the trial verdict, Jean woke up to find that she had lost the sight in one eye. Even today, her vision in that eye is badly blurred. It is a consequence of all the stress they have suffered. The Tuesday after the trial, between Jean’s doctor and hospital appointments, they were driving at a steady 25mph when a car came out of a side street and hit them. On a bright, sunny day the woman who drove into them had been temporarily blinded. Their car was a write-off but, miraculously, they were shaken rather than hurt. The woman kept saying: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry”. Jean eventually put her hand on the woman’s arm and said: “Don’t worry. Worse things have happened. We’re Jo Cox’s parents.” The woman felt even more upset, but Gordon and Jean reassured her. “It really is all right,” Gordon said. “After the last few months, this is nothing.”