A heartbroken son has said he will never get closure after his "amazing" mum was killed
Marie Cunningham, 79, died after being hit by a car while helping cross her friend Grace Foulds, 85, over Lulworth Road in Birkdale. Just over one year on from the incident her son Terry Cunningham said he doesn't think he will ever get over it.
Marie and Grace, who was also killed in the crash, had spent a "lovely" day together before being hit in the few seconds it takes to cross the road. Terry has described his mum as an "amazing woman" who was "not ready to die".
READ MORE: Man says he beat teenager to death 'because he pulled a knife out on me'
Speaking to the ECHO he said: "My dad died in 2011 of cancer and you kind of get yourself ready for it but with my mum, there was none of that. It was just so sudden and you want answers for what has happened. When somebody is killed like that I don't think you ever get closure, my mum would have had her 80 birthday this year.
"She started walking everywhere after my dad died as she could not drive. She would be still alive today if she had sat in the flat and never walked anywhere, it is hard to think about."
On Wednesday, 30, November a vigil was held on the spot where the two women had died exactly one year after the incident. Terry said his family at 4.35pm walked into the road at the exact moment Marie was run over.
Terry who is from Southport said: "About seventy people turned up and we walked into the road, stopped the cars and waited for a minute then got back on the pavement and thanked everyone. Even when we did the vigil cars were speeding down the road and to think a simple crossing could have saved my mum's life."
Over 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for new safety measures to be implemented on Lulworth Road. However, a year later investigations into the deaths are still ongoing.
Terry, 52, who is from Southport said: "The vigil was a sad day, her life was taken so quickly and I threw myself into making the road safer but at the end of the day nothing is going to bring my mum back."
Enquiries into the collision are ongoing. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information is asked to call our Matrix Roads Policing Unit on (0151) 777 5747, email SCIU@merseyside.police.uk, or DM @MerPolCC on Twitter quoting reference 21000831536.
READ NEXT:
