Grandmother died in crash after driver had fit at the wheel
A grandmother, described as the glue holding her family together, died when her car was hit by a driver who had a fit at the wheel.
Hazel Goodyear lost her fight for life on route to hospital following the crash in Stubbers Green Road, Aldridge, Walsall, at around 7am on December 15.
An inquest at Black Country Coroner’s Court heard that the 67-year-old, from Pelsall, was not wearing a seatbelt and had no time to react as a Mini Cooper veered onto the wrong side of the road.
The Mini mounted a kerb and hit a sign before smashing into the front of Ms Goodyear’s Peugeot 107, which had been travelling in the opposite direction.
The driver of the Mini, Jayne Wilkinson, from Brownhills, has been cleared of any wrongdoing, the inquest heard.
She had blacked out moments before the crash after suffering her first epileptic fit in six years.
She told the hearing: “I don’t remember turning into Stubbers Green Road. My last recollection was that the road was clear.”
She added: “I’m really sorry for what happened. It’s really sad. No words can change it or make it better.”
Ms Wilkinson said she had suffered with epilepsy since 1997 when she had an operation to address an aneurysm.
She surrendered her driving licence but got it back from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) after going more than two years without a seizure.
Ms Wilkinson, whose last seizure was in 2010, said she has now surrendered her licence and will ‘never drive again’.
Ms Goodyear suffered a cardiac arrest and died as a result of multiple injuries.
Coroner Zafar Siddique, who recorded death by way of a road traffic collision, said: “From the moment the Mini Cooper came into view and from the point of impact it is unlikely the driver of the Peugeot, Hazel Goodyear, had time to react to avoid it.
“Sadly she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and sustained fatal injuries at the scene.”
Members of Ms Goodyear’s family, including her daughters Anneka and Diana, and son Andrew, attended the hearing.
Giving evidence, Anneka said: “I lived with my mother, she was more like my soulmate.
“Words can’t describe it. We have to live day by day thinking she is not going to be there.
“She was the person we depended on the most, she was like our glue, the most important cog in my world.”
