DON’T FORGET MY DAUGHTER
Jailed driver could be home before severely injured Beth
WATCHING her only daughter turn 21 should have been a happy day for mum Claire Foster.
But the birthday will be tinged with heartbreak for the Gateshead mum as she marks the anniversary of the horrendous road crash changed her family’s lives forever.
Beth Oliver was 18 when she suffered catastrophic brain injuries in a road crash which robbed her of the ability to walk and talk.
She requires round-the-clock care and, two years later, is still unable to return home to her family in Winlaton.
Now as Beth approaches her 21st birthday, mum Claire has spoken of her fears that her daughter will be “forgotten”, and anger that the speeding driver who caused the crash will soon be eligible for release from prison.
Bethany was catching a lift home with Brian Taylor in June 2015 when he lost control of his car while driving at more than double the speed limit.
Taylor, from Springwell Close in Winlaton, was sentenced to just 32 months behind bars and handed a five-year and four-month driving ban.
Claire, 46, said: “I find it hard to think about the fact that he’ll be getting out soon. He’ll be going home before we get Beth home.”
Beth currently lives at the Alan Shearer Centre, where she receives constant specialist care.
“After the crash they said she would have no quality of life, but she does,” said Claire. “It’s just little things, like being able to hold her head up, but she’s come such a long way.
“She couldn’t do anything at the
beginning but she’s a lot more alert now.
“She knows when you’re talking to her and she laughs in the right places when she watches TV.
“She still loves her music – her face lights right up when you put it on.
“The hardest thing is not being able to have a conversation with her - she was always so chatty.”
Beth, who has three brothers, is able to come home to visit her family at weekends, and will be able to celebrate her 21st birthday with them in July.
“It’s very hard because she should be going clubbing with her friends,” Claire said.
“And it’s impossible to know what to get her.”
The family are also trying to get Beth’s Facebook account reactivated in time for her birthday, so her friends can post messages and see pictures of her in happier times.
Claire said: “We would like to have it because we want people to remember her.
“She’s absolutely beautiful and I’m scared people will forget that she’s still here, and that she’s still fighting.
“She’s amazing – I’m so proud of her.”