Andrew Corfield was doing a typical “dad job” of running his daughter to her sister’s on the night he was killed in a horrific crash just minutes from his Hemlington home.
Widow Lisa has today revealed more details of events leading up to the crash on the night of Tuesday, October 28.
It was an accident which left her teenage daughter Alice in a coma.
The teenager was on her way to stay with her big sister, Amy, and her six-year-old niece, Lucy-May.
The mother and daughter had recently moved house from the Es estate in Hemlington to the Ds following weeks of harassment.
“I wasn’t scared for me but I was scared for my daughter, she was frightened of a knock on the door,” Amy, 21, told The Gazette.
Andrew and Alice never arrived at their destination.
Family had been targeted by thieves and vandals
Lisa, Amy and brother Owen, 20, dashed to the scene of the crash site, which was just a few minutes away from the family home.
Since that terrible night, Lisa has remained strong so she can visit her daughter’s bedside every day but in quiet moments in her empty home she admits she can’t help thinking ‘if onlys’.
“I just can’t help thinking if we hadn’t had all that going on, the crash would never have happened.
"Andrew would have been at work, Alice would have been at home,” said Lisa, 39, who also has a two-year-old granddaughter, Leah, Owen’s daughter.
Amy said the trouble began with a falling out with a friend a month before and led to an alleged assault at her home.
A trampoline belonging to Lucy was destroyed in a fire and toys were stolen from Amy’s garden but police say they have no evidence to link the fire to a culprit.
When Lucy became too scared to stay in her home, they moved to a new flat - but “they soon found out where we lived”.
'Your husband is a dead man walking'
The incidents culminated in an altercation between a gang of young women and men and Amy outside her home.
Lisa and Andrew dashed to their daughter’s defence as well as calling the police to the scene.
Andrew - who Lisa said had to pull several women off her - acted as peacemaker.
Lisa was then sent a text message saying: “Your husband is a dead man walking”.
Days later Andrew died in a tragic accident
Two days later, in a tragic coincidence, Andrew was killed in a crash on the corner of Cass House Road and Fordyce Road.
The driver of the other vehicle - 18-year-old Jake McCabe - fled the scene.
He is now in prison serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence after pleading guilty at Teesside Crown Court to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury through dangerous driving.
McCabe’s sentence is “not enough” for the Corfield family and Amy is setting up a petition for tougher sentences for people convicted of the same offences.
“It won’t change anything for us but it would help other people,” said Amy.
Family are now focused on getting Alice home
Amy said those involved in “the trouble” have “left me alone since the crash” - and that the family hopes to put it all behind them.
Their focus now is “getting Alice home”.
Although Alice can now breathe by herself, her recovery so far has been “very slow”.
Doctors are unable to give the Corfields a prognosis for the 18-year-old, who suffered damage to almost every part of her brain.
Alice suffered horrendous injuries - including broken ribs, broken collarbone, broken pelvis, punctured lung and tears to her liver, kidney and spleen.
Her skull was detached from her spine and had to be bolted back together as a result of the crash.
The family last month celebrated the teenager's birthday at her bedside.
Alice is now battling C-diff
Alice is currently battling a C-diff (Clostridium difficile) infection - a type of bacterial infection affecting the digestive system which most commonly affects people who have been treated with antibiotics.
She has been moved into isolation in a side room in HDU (high dependency unit) at James Cook University Hospital but may move to a rehabilitation unit in the future.
The former student at King’s Academy and Middlesbrough College may be moved to Walkergate Park Centre in Newcastle.
But, with no residential facilities at the unit, Lisa has to decide how to make that work.
Since the crash, the mum hasn't driven any further than to and from the hospital - and finding a property to rent on a month to month basis is proving impossible.
“We just have to keep going and keep praying,” she said.
“We think she can see and hear and she can move her arm a little bit but it’s hard to tell how she is really.
“And we don’t know if this is as far as she goes, if she’ll stay like this or not.”
New blow as Andrew's dog is put to sleep
The family was dealt another blow last week when Andrew’s beloved dog, Benny, had to be put to sleep.
The 11-year-old alsation/labrador cross lost a leg to cancer three years ago but the disease returned in his mouth.
“He was Andrew’s dog, he was lost ever since we lost Andrew,” said Lisa.
Lisa is waiting for Alice to improve enough to be part of the burial of Andrew’s ashes.
The family plans to bury the ashes with Jack, the son they lost to cot death in 1995, and Benny’s ashes.
“I think of Benny with his four legs again jumping all over his dad. You have to think of them like that.”
The Cleveland Police response
Inspector Tina Notman said the force was "sorry to learn that the Corfield family have expressed dissatisfaction" with how two reported incidents were dealt with last year.
"We received a report of an incident of criminal damage in early October 2014, where a trampoline had been set alight.
"The second report was made later the same month with regards to a verbal altercation involving a number of people.
"We have not received a formal complaint into the force, but will look into the matter of how these reports were dealt with.
“Our thoughts and condolences remain with the Corfield family following the tragic incident on October 28, following which Jake McCabe pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
"Family liaison officers will continue to offer the family support.”
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