Latest blog from: hopegoesupanddown.blogspot.com - a record of the hope, terror and unknown future faced when the one you love most in the world suffers a brain injury.
436 days ago 'that woman' pulled out on to a roundabout and straight in to my Jake, severely damaging his brain and upending all our hopes and dreams. Tomorrow we were finally going to court for the criminal hearing and today she decided to change her plea to guilty. Squeezing every last ounce of our agony out of it along the way!
Frankly this news is huge; huger than a really, really huge thing in fact.
The last 14 months has been like I've been standing on quick sand with a future that was uncertain, scary and potentially bloody awful for us both. This news doesn't change the fact that our lives have completely changed forever and that there will be many difficulties ahead. What it does mean is that we are now back on solid ground where both sides can finally review all the evidence and we can hopefully agree primary liability in the civil case, which should be a much smoother negotiation now that there is a criminal conviction in place. In turn this means that we are on a much firmer footing financially and I no longer feel like we could sink at any moment.
Aside from this new sense of security, what this news also brings is a sense of vindication; I and those that know my Jake were absolutely confident in his ability as a cyclist and knew that he would never, ever drive the wrong way around a roundabout as she claimed. It seems ridiculous that this claim was even entertained really, when you consider how many thousands of miles he'd cycled all over the country and how angry he got with other cyclists when they ignored red lights or didn't take responsibility for themselves as road users.
I cannot tell you how completely lovely it was to make the phone calls that followed my receiving this news, although the cats were a bit freaked out by my dancing around the house singing 'ding dong the witch is dead'!
With any luck this change in plea will oil the ludicrously laborious legal wheels and we can concentrate on getting Jake home and Project Joy off the ground.
Oh yes, a very good day indeed!
