The co-founder of fashion brand Mint Velvet revealed how she 'just crumbled' when she was told her son would not survive after being hit by a car.
asserted
son → reveal → car
Mother-of-three Liz Houghton was rushed by police to be at the side of Will, 20, after he was knocked off his bicycle in Wickham, Hampshire, in January 2016.
But she recalled how 'this noise came out of me' after doctors disclosed his head injuries were 'unsurvivable' and her eldest child would die.
asserted
child → rush → me
Now ten years on, Liz, 62, has bravely revisited her grief during an emotional conversation with Davina McCall for her podcast, Begin Again.
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Liz → revisit → podcast
Keen cyclist Will had been travelling along the A32 when pensioner Jeanette Smith, 69, ploughed into the back of him in her Citroen C3.
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Smith → travel → C3
She later pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and was spared jail with a 12-month community order.
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She → plead → order
Speaking on the podcast, the CEO of Mint Velvet said she had been at work when her husband, Richard, phoned to say Will had been in an accident.
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Will → speak → accident
'He often fell off his bike because he was obsessed with cycling, so we'd been used to this,' she said, explaining the severity of her son's condition was not obvious at first.
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severity → fall → condition
'But then [Richard] said: 'So the police are coming to get you.'
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police → say → you
So I knew it must be urgent, it's serious, but I wasn't thinking it was going to be terminal.'
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it → know → ?
Mint Velvet founder Liz Houghton revealed how she 'just crumbled' when she was told her son would not survive after being hit by a car.
asserted
son → reveal → car
Source: WillHoughtonFoundation/Facebook
Liz, 62, bravely revisited her grief during an emotional conversation with Davina McCall for her podcast, Begin Again
McCall listened intently as the Mint Velvet founder opened up about her son Will's tragic death.
asserted
founder → revisit → death
Source: Begin Again with Davina McCall
She was rushed by police officers to Southampton Hospital, but when she arrived the fashion entrepreneur found she 'literally' could not stand up.
uncertain
she → rush → Hospital
'I didn't realize I was going through all these things and I just couldn't stand,' she said.
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she → realize → things
'So these lovely two police officers sort of held me up and I got ushered into this small room.
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I → hold → room
This young doctor came in, but he was a consultant and he said: "So what have you heard?"
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you → come → what
And I said, well I know Will has had a very serious cycling accident.
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Will → say → accident
And he said: "Well, I've got to tell you it's unsurvivable."
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it → say → you
In that moment, Liz said she 'just literally crumbled.'
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she → say → moment
She went on: 'When you see things on the TV and you hear somebody lets out a noise like terrible grief, I thought that was just theatre, I never thought that existed.
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that → go → grief
'But this noise just came out of me and I just literally crumbled, because 'unsurvivable' is not even he might have some sort of damage - he's not going to live.'
uncertain
he → come → damage
She recalled how the doctor left the room, leaving her alone to gather her thoughts.
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doctor → recall → thoughts
'This perfect world that I had was, in a second, just taken', she said.
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she → have → second
In the aftermath of his death, Smith appeared at court and told magistrates she had been 'blinded by the sun' while driving along the A32 on January 28, 2016.
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she → appear → January
She pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and alongside her community order was disqualified from getting behind the wheel for 12 months.
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She → plead → months
Smith, of Denmead, Hampshire, was also ordered to pay a total of £165 in costs and fines.
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Smith → order → costs
Paying tribute to their son after the sentencing, Liz and Richard said: 'Our grief for our loving, passionate, driven and wonderful son Will is deep.
'He was a handsome, motivated and fun 20-year-old and is missed dearly by his family and friends.
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He → pay → family
His new racing bike, delivered two weeks after he was killed, will never be ridden and we will never know if he would have achieved his driving ambition to be a professional cyclist.
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he → deliver → ambition
'While the 20 years he spent with us were far too short, we are grateful that he lived them to the full and left us all with happy memories and a belief that we should all strive to be the very best version of ourselves we can be.'
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we → spend → ourselves
She learnt one of his kidneys was given to a father in his 50s, helping him to come off dialysis, while part of his liver saved the life of a desperately ill child.
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part → learn → child
Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2019, she said: 'When I knew there was no hope, all I could think about was his organs.
uncertain
I → speak → 2019
I kept saying to the nurses: "We must save everything.
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We → keep → everything
He would have wanted that."
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He → want → that
'He looked perfect; not a scratch or bruise on him.
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He → look → him
I wanted literally everything to be used.
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everything → want → ?
'Will crammed so much into his short life.
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Will → cram → life
He was super-fit, loving, engaged; like our other children, the centre of our lives.
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He → love → lives
Will, 20, was knocked off his bicycle in Wickham, Hampshire, on January 28, 2016.
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Will → knock → January
Will had carried an organ card - with more than a dozen individuals going on to receive his organs, including his eyes, heart, bones and skin.
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individuals → carry → eyes
More than anything, he was passionate about cycling, and rode his bike for the sheer joy of it.
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he → ride → it
'He would want to think he'd made a difference, that his death had helped save lives.
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death → want → lives
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
