Harsh reality of losing someone close in a crash
Little Sammy Murray’s life changed forever on February 19, 1993, when her father was tragically killed in a north-east road accident. The Young Driver of the Year semi-finalist tells Caroline Brodie what it was like growing up without a dad
Published:
LOSING a parent at any age is a harsh blow but having a loved one taken from you when you are almost too young to remember seems particularly cruel.
Sammy Murray was aged just four when her dad’s car smashed into a bridge parapet near Pitmedden 15 years ago. Understandably, she has few memories of him but the ones she does have, she cherishes.
“I have little bits of memories of me with my dad but I was still so young it seems really distant now,” she said.
“I remember though at my nana’s house we used to play Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog) on his games console.
“I loved it. And every time I think of that now it makes me smile.”
Stuart Murray was just 25 when he died. The accident, like so many, happened on a rural road late at night. His friend, another young dad, was also killed, and another passenger seriously injured.
One thing Sammy does remember is coming home from school and being told what had happened.
“I was only four so I didn't really understand the situation but I did cry,” she said.
The 20-year-old, from Inverurie, is one of thousands left to live their lives without a husband, wife, mother, father, son or daughter.
She said: “I wish I’d been able to get to know him properly as a person, because what I did know of him was amazing.
“It angers me now that he was taken from me at such a young age. All my family tell me that he adored me.”
Speaking about life without him, she said: “It was hard growing up without a dad – never being able to buy a Father’s Day card, or sit on my dad’s knee and watch the football, or really just have the chance to call someone dad.”
In the past five years, a total of 55 drivers and 22 passengers aged 17-25 have been killed on Grampian’s roads alone, with 171 drivers and 96 passengers seriously injured.
In the Northern Constabulary area, 11 under-25s lost their lives on the roads in 2006. A further 15 were killed in 2007 and many more were seriously injured.
The Press and Journal’s Young Driver of the Year campaign aims to combat this alarming death toll by challenging young drivers to gain valuable skills behind the wheel.
Each of our 25 semi-finalists has already passed a tough theory test and will now have to demonstrate their skills to an assessor from the Institute of Advanced Motorists before winning a place in the final, which will take place at the home of Scottish motorsport at Knockhill, in Fife, on May 14.
Sammy, who works at Bon Accord Accountancy, said her father’s death was behind her decision to enter the competition.
She said: “To have lost someone so close to you to a situation that could have possibly been prevented is heartbreaking. I want to improve my driving and gain new skills that could potentially save my life.
“The way I drive now is most definitely affected by what happened. I don't like to speed and always take care in bad weather. I am cautious but also courteous to other drivers. It’s really scary to think that taking your eyes off the road for even a split second can be fatal.”
Read more about the Young Driver of the Year semi-finalists in next week’s Your Car and look out for the names of the 12 finalists on April 23 and 30.
