Parents of crash victim Liam Hawley make plea to new drivers

Sep 4 2010 by Ruth Lawson, The Journal

Medical secretary Julie said: “It was just an awful feeling being put into a little private room at the hospital, you know there’s something not right when they take you to that room but you never expect to be told your son’s dead.”

Julie and Andrew are now trying to come to terms with their life without Newcastle United fan Liam while also treasuring the memories of their child, who had plans of becoming a paratrooper.

Andrew, who is studying photography, said: “He was my only son. It’s the little things like you don’t hear the word dad any more.”

The 41-year-old added: “It took me months to go back in to Liam’s bedroom and sort out all his clothes. Even his toothbrush is still in the toothbrush holder, I won’t let it go yet.”

They recently held a barbecue with close family and friends to celebrate what would have been Liam’s 20th birthday and released 10 Chinese lanterns in his memory. And they have vowed to remember the good things about Liam’s life and not the tragedy that took him.

“All we could remember of him was his smile and his cheeky grin. His little smile was so addictive, even the teachers would say ‘we just saw this cheeky grin and we couldn’t tell him off’. It was infectious,” said Julie, who also has a 23-year-old daughter, Natalie Booker.

Andrew and Julie thanked the two liaison officers, John Livingston and Jamie Blyth, who have been by their side throughout their ordeal.

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If they just stopped and thought, even for a few minutes, of the consequences that it has