Easing the pain

The couple had left home in Draycott Road, Chiseldon, for work in July 1996 when the pretty 21-year-old got into the passenger seat of her friend Rachel's car for a day out in Cheltenham.

The two girls never reached their destination. Hours later, Pat was taken to a quiet room at the office where she worked in Swindon to be told by a police officer that Rachel's Metro had been in collision with a parked lorry on the A417 and Francesca had been killed.

It was another hour before police broke the same news to Dave, who was working in Witney.

It was the start of a never-ending nightmare.

But seven years later the Masons are coming to terms with it by helping other people who have been bereaved or seriously injured by tragedy on our roads.

They man a help line for RoadPeace, a North London-based group founded by German-born teacher Brigitte Chaudhry, who last month received the MBE for her services to road traffic victims and their families.

"When Francesca died so many people sympathised and said they knew how we must be feeling," said 48-year-old Pat. "But the only ones who can really understand are those who have been through it themselves.

"By being there for others we feel we are giving something back for Francesca. It's a way of ensuring that her death wasn't just a futile waste."

The couple, who have another daughter Karen, and four grandchildren, also back campaigns by RoadPeace for safer roads and justice for road crash victims.

It is a crusade which would earn the sympathy of South Swindon MP Julia Drown, who this week urged that the most irresponsible motorists involved in accidents which cause death should be charged with manslaughter.

Mrs Chaudhry's 26-year-old son Mansoor was killed in 1990 while riding his motorbike in Southwark, south London.

A van driver had gone through traffic lights at red. It was not until the driver appeared in court seven months later that she learned about what had happened.

"There was no sense of outrage at my son's death," she said later. "A summary charge for a minor traffic offence was duly proposed."

It was also some time before she appreciated how many other families go through the mind-numbing grief and horror she was experiencing.

In fact every year around 3,500 people are killed on Britain's roads. Half a million more are injured, 100,000 of them seriously.

Pat and Dave learned about RoadPeace and its helpline four months after their beloved younger daughter died.

"I wish we had known about it earlier," said Pat, who had a nervous breakdown.

She explained that it would have been good to talk to people who really did know what they were going through.

But the help line offers much more than emotional support and understanding.

It also provides advice about the law, support services, how to find a solicitor and the thousand other things which people need to know but are too shocked and bewildered to find out for themselves. Pat said: "If necessary we can even find volunteers to accompany bereaved relatives to hospitals when they go to identify their loved ones."

Nobody should be left to feel bitter and angry because there was nobody there to lean on, Mrs Chaudhry has said and nor, if they believe action such as a private prosecution against a driver is warranted, should they be left resentful because they lacked information on which to base an informed choice.

The 23-year-old driver of the Metro in which Francesca died was convicted of careless driving and had six penalty points added to her licence. Pat believes the girl suffered considerably and will live with what happened for the rest of her life.

But she said: "We are in touch. In fact we went to her wedding.

"She was Francesca's friend and they worked together. There is no point in feeling bitter. It won't bring our daughter back."

They know they will never get over her death, but with the help of RoadPeace they have learned to survive.

Pat said: "She will always be part of our family. She enjoyed her life so much and we can talk and laugh about some of the things she did."