A pensioner has died in hospital following a crash on a Highland road as his family took him to visit the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum for the first time.
Roderick Sutherland, of Tain, was airlifted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness following the two car collision on the A832 road near Dundonnell on Friday.
But the 85-year-old, who had been a front seat passenger in a silver Mazda, died on Monday after a chest infection caused his condition to deteriorate.
Mr Sutherland, known to family and friends as “Roddie”, was a regular churchgoer and SNP member.
He served in the Army for two years and worked in the Invergordon aluminium smelter while living in Alness.
Last night his daughter Jean Scott, a 54-year-old shop worker from Culloden who was driving at the time of the accident, said: “He was very interested in World War II and I had phoned up the museum to make sure it was suitable for someone with a walking aid.
“It was a first time visit and he was very interested in the convoys.”
Mrs Scott called 999 following the accident, which happened at about 12.30pm on Friday while the family were on their way to the museum in Aultbea.
Police said that inquiries were ongoing into the crash and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.
Mrs Scott and her father were airlifted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by Coastguard helicopter while her husband, David Scott, who was in the back seat, went by road ambulance.
Her father sustained a broken sternum, while she had a broken sternum and vertebrae and her husband needs six weeks to recover from a broken rib and verterbrae and an injury to his collar bone.
Mrs Scott added: “Everyone in the emergency services, and the team at Raigmore, were absolutely fantastic.
“And I’ve such a super community here. I haven’t cooked a meal all week – someone has brought something up for us every night. Everyone has been wonderful.”
Mrs Scott said her father lived in Tain for nearly 26 years but was originally from Laid, near Durness, and met his late wife, Iona, while working on the island of her name in the late 1950s.
He trained with the Army for two years after school before working for the council on roads, then moved to work for the Ministry of Defence in Durness.
Local funeral director Alasdair Rhind said he knew Mr Sutherland well as a regular attendee of Tain Parish Church, adding: “We are very saddened by Roddie’s passing and our thoughts are very much with his family at this time.”
Tain and Easter Ross councillor Derek Louden said he knew Mr Sutherland through his party membership, adding: “I am shocked and saddened to hear that he has passed away in tragic circumstances.
“My heart goes out to his daughter and his wider family.”
