Back in July my step-father was knocked over by a car reversing off a drive, 9 days after the accident he died without ever fully regaining consciousness. The accident happened outside my Mother’s bungalow and the driver of the car lives in the house opposite Mum’s, all too close for the circumstances and the outcome to ever be away from the front of Mum’s mind for any length of time, in fact it acts as a permanent irritant. Mum has always been slightly batty but recently her mental health has been extremely volatile, manic would be a fair assessment. There has been extravagant spending, tantrums, suggestions about suicidal plans, fixating on people and then pestering them but throughout a refusal to accept help from health professionals. Her issues have placed huge strain on my sister and her family, with me caught in the wash. What has exacerbated the situation, and made it virtually impossible for any of us, but especially Mum, to start moving forward, has been the spectre of the final coroner’s inquest and all that would entail.
On Friday we had the inquest. The poor man who knocked my step-father over was there by himself. Yes, he had a solicitor there representing him but other than that he was alone going through the awful ordeal of reliving the accident, minute by minute, inch by inch and having every movement he made questioned. Mum was questioned, she didn’t always answer the question directly, in fact a 10 minute ramble around the answer was her style; the police; the home office pathologist and the accident investigator were all also questioned and just under 3 hours later the death certificate was produced, accidental death. I was happy, well perhaps not happy, content, yes content is good. Mum appeared accepting of the result, we had worried that she was seeking retribution and, if not the death penalty, then that causing death by dangerous driving would be her expectation, but it seems that the inquest has been a cathartic experience. I really hope so for Mum’s, my sister’s and my own sanity, it seems there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
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A Midwife's Muse 