I lost four members of my family including my grandkids in horror crash – I still can’t process it
A heartbroken grandmother has revealed she is “still struggling” three years after losing four members of her family in a horrific road accident.
Samantha Cousin lost her 25-year-old son Rhys, his 26-year-old wife Gemma, and their grandchildren Heidi, one, and Peyton, three, who died in a two-car accident.
3
3
3
The tragedy happened at around 5:30pm on 20 February 2020 on the A82 near Torlundy, north of Fort William, Highlands, in treacherous weather.
All four were pronounced dead at the scene after their green Mini Cooper collided with a red Ford Fiesta.
A 56-year-old female driver was extricated from the wreckage of the other car and taken to Belfort Hospital in Fort William with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Shatterd Samantha has revealed that she is still haunted by the traffic accident.
The mother-of-five also shared how the tragedy “changed” her family forever and she struggles with her losses every day.
In conversation with the BBCSamantha said, “My life is upside down. My whole family’s life has been turned upside down, as has Gemma’s parents and family.”
“For anyone who has lost someone, it changes you as a person. Our whole family has changed forever.”
“I talk about her all the time. It’s a struggle when it comes to having babies.”
“You are not here to have fun. And they’re not here to see their milestones.”
“I struggle with it every day. Still, I can still talk about them — I feel, I don’t know, maybe closer to them.”
“It’s not like I can just get on with my days and just forget it ever happened. They are things you will never forget.”
“As a family we fight. We’re still fighting.”
Today, Samantha from the Orkney Islands is a road safety activist and has called for road surface improvements where accidents have occurred.
Latest statistics show there has been a more than 20 per cent increase in deaths on Scotland’s roads between 2021 and last year – the highest in six years.
Samantha added, “It’s a night I’ll never forget. As Rhys worked for traffic management I thought something had happened to him – I never thought his wife or girls would have been taken too.”
“They were great. Gemma smiled the whole time and Rhys made me laugh every day.”
Samantha previously said she did not blame the driver of the other vehicle for the fatal accident.
Two months after the tragedy, she announced that she had contacted the woman.
Samantha said, “I wrote her a card and sent her flowers. I said we all hope you get better soon and we’re sorry for what you and your family are going through.”
“What happened to her probably affected her relatives as well. She will always remember what happened and it’s awful.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Behind every number we see in the statistics today there is a loved one who is now tragically no longer with us, or a life that has been changed forever.”
“One death on our roads is just one too many.”
We pay for your stories and videos! Do you have a story or video for The Scottish Sun? Email us at scoop@thesun.co.uk or call 0141 420 5200
We pay for your stories and videos! Do you have a story or video for The Scottish Sun? Email us at scoop@thesun.co.uk or call 0141 420 5200