Road deaths: Families describe moment their worlds were shattered

Three families have spoken of the "world-shattering" moment they were told that their loved ones were not coming home following road crashes.

The number of deaths on Northern Ireland's roads have reached their highest level in nearly six years.

Sixty people have been killed so far this year - the highest since 2018, according to police figures.

Three people have shared their personal stories of grief in an effort to help promote greater road safety.

Warning: This article contains details which some readers may find distressing.

'You're destroying their world'

Head of road policing with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Ch Insp Graham Dodds, said behind every one of the statistics was a family that would never be the same.

He said knocking on that door and informing a family their loved one had died was one of the worst things any police officer had to do.

"You watch a family shatter into a thousand pieces - you're destroying their world and you're watching someone breaking right in front of you," he said.

"You do feel a sense of guilt even though you haven't caused that incident, but because you will be forever associated with that awful moment in their lives."

'No mummy wants to see their child in a body bag'

Debbie Mullan's son Keelan was killed after his car collided with a tractor in 2013

Debbie Mullan said the moment officers arrived at her door in 2013 to tell her that her 17-year-old son, Keelan, had been killed in a crash would live with her forever.

Keelan had offered to nip to the local shop near his family home in the village of Drumsurn, County Londonderry, to get a loaf of crusty bread while his father made a start on breakfast.

Ms Mullan said she began to get concerned when the bacon for the breakfast started to get cold and Keelan's phone was going straight to voicemail.

"I still remember it so vividly, both police officers getting out of the car," Mrs Mullan told BBC News NI.

"I don't even remember exactly what they were saying - I can't hear it - but I remember just seeing it's impacting him, his hands were going to his head.

"I just walked straight past them and ended up sitting at the side of the road - numb."

Keelan was a typical 17-year-old who loved GAA and hanging out with his friends, his mother said

Keelan was killed when his car hit black ice and collided with a tractor and slurry tank.

His mother said she refused to believe the news and insisted on being taken to the scene of the accident.

"It was later that evening before I could get there, because they had to bring a crane in from Belfast to remove the tractor off the top of Keelan's car," she said.

"No mummy ever wants to see their child in a body bag with as graphic injuries that he had, but he was still my boy and I needed to hold him and hug him."

'You still think she is going to come home'

Laura Radcliffe says her sister Kathryn's death never gets easier

Laura Radcliffe's sister Kathryn Jones was 27 when she was killed after her car collided with a lorry in County Donegal, near the Irish border, on 19 June 2015.

"Kathryn was a social butterfly, loved her job, loved her friends and just had a love of life," Mrs Radcliffe said.

Recalling the day her sister died, Ms Radcliffe said receiving the devastating news was never going to be easy, but said the cross-border element of her death it made things more complicated.

Kathryn Jones was 27 when she died in 2015

"Gardaí [Irish police] who were at the scene couldn't come to tell my parents, they had to phone the police here [in Northern Ireland] who then had to come and tell them," she said.

"You were getting information twice, so it makes it harder because you're hearing everything twice and you were just sort of piecing things together more and more each time."

Ms Radcliffe said Kathryn's sudden death felt like a bomb had gone off the family, with many struggling to come to terms with it.

"Even when we came back from the hospital morgue, you still think: 'She's going to come home, she's going to come home from work'," she said.

"She would've always came back late back on a Friday to then go out with her friends - it'll be alright she'll come home, she's going to come home - but it's just shock."

'Begging the surgeon to try to save him'

Ann Sherrard's husband, Wilson, was killed after the car he was a passenger in collided with a van in 2016

Ann Sherrard met her husband, Wilson, when she was 16.

She described "the love of her life" as a kind and caring man who was missed every single day by their family.

Wilson Sherrard, was 60 when he died after the car he was a passenger in was involved in a collision with a van near Claudy in August 2016.

Ms Sherrard said after being told about the crash she rushed to the hospital, hoping and praying that he would pull through.

Ann Sherrard says Wilson was the love of her life

"When I got there I was eventually told by the doctor, with the surgeon standing over him, that he wasn't going to make it," she said.

Their son Christopher said the moment his mother got that news, she got on her hands and knees and begged the surgeon to try to save her husband.

"That was the only time in my life where I felt helpless," Christopher said.

He said the family's traumatic experience prompted them to start a group that supported families affected by fatal road crashes.

"We know what it's like to be there in those awful circumstances and those statistics this year show it's not getting any better," he said.

The Department for Infrastructure has announced two new road safety campaigns - one which began on 1 December and another which will start in January.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, help and support is available over on the BBC Action Line.