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We're lost souls since Joy died
OCTOBER, 1988, and Sheffield mum Joy Read had everything to live for - adored son Steven, devoted husband Les, and a job she loved working with children as a teaching assistant.
She was a wonderful cook, spoke superb French, and was blessed with a wicked sense of humour.
But on October 10 the Reads' world was ripped apart - when Joy was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver who inflicted injuries from which she would never recover.
The person responsible for the collision has never been found.
Speaking to The Star after an inquest which ruled Joy died as a direct result of the injuries she suffered 20 years earlier, Les said: "The person who did this might never know what they have done.
"They would probably think she came out of hospital after six weeks. If they only knew the pain she has been through."
Les, now 63 and coming to terms with life as a widower, bears surprisingly little malice towards the person responsible.
"People used to say to me: 'wouldn't you like to get hold of them?' But the only thing I regret is that they did not stop, not the fact that the accident happened.
"I have made mistakes on the road - never with such consequences - but it's not something you set out to do. It's the fact they left her lying there in a pool of blood."
The couple's 13-year-old son Steven was the first one on the scene - and the image of cradling his own mum's head in his hands was a constant source of nightmares for him as he grew up.
Father and son had to adjust to a completely new way of life - in which Joy could no longer communicate with them or move for herself. Les gave up work and devoted the next 19 years entirely to his wife's care.
The first four years were spent in hospital where Les visited every single day - once even trekking through the snow from Grenoside to Nether Edge to make sure he could give Joy her dinner.
When she moved home to Barnes Green he became her full-time carer, looking after her with the help of live-in carer Janet Martin who moved in to the family home.
Both Les and Janet paid tribute to the brave battle Joy fought, and how despite all her physical disabilities she remained alert mentally.
"She kept her sense of humour all the way through," smiled Les.
His great sadness is that Joy did not live to see the birth of her first grandchild, Matilda Joy, born to Steven and his wife Lucy only two weeks ago.
After so many years as full-time carers Les and Janet both admit now they are "lost souls".
"It's hard to describe, we just feel empty," said Les.
READ MORE
Own up now to lethal crash
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