‘You killed my baby boy’ – mum’s anguish at crash site
Eileen Blakey
A grieving mother screamed at the tree which killed her son, during an emotional visit to the site where he lost his life.
Henry Robert Blakey was driving to the job he loved when his Rover 25 came off the road, near to Longframlington, and collided with a tree, on November 19.
The 27-year-old from Whittingham, who was known as Robert to family and friends, was a car fanatic and was travelling to Sunderland to start a night shift at Nissan when the incident happened.
On Tuesday, just over a week after he was killed, part of the road was closed by police to allow his family and girlfriend to go to the site.
His distraught mother, Eileen Blakey, who is a former mayor of Alnwick, spoke of her emotion after seeing the tragic spot for the first time.
She said: “I stood there and screamed at the tree. I said ‘you killed my baby boy’. But we do feel calmer now. We know where he was killed and we know what killed him. Now we just need to know the why. I just hope we find out the why.”
She added: “I would ask everyone not to put flowers at the site. We don’t want it to become a shrine.”
Calls have been made to improve the safety of the road after a number of deaths on the A697 over recent months.
But Eileen refused to be drawn on the issue.
She said: “Rob loved that road. He drove it every day and I can’t say anything nasty about it. There has been a lot of accidents but they have been different. I can’t comment.”
Robert also leaves behind father David and siblings Mykel, Jacqui and Richard.
He was in a steady relationship with Rachel Ashley and doted on his niece, Holly, and nephew, Nathan.
His funeral takes place today at Cowpen Crematorium at 11.30am, followed by a wake at The Black Swan, in Alnwick, at 1.30pm.
The family has asked for donations, instead of flowers, which will go towards the charity Whizz-Kidz, as well as research into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A large turn-out is expected today, as mourners pay their respects to a man described as popular, lovable, a joker and unselfish.
Robert had a passion for cars and his dream came true when he drove a Mitsubishi Evo.
Paying tributes to her ‘daredevil’ son, who had a number of family nicknames including Bobcat Bob, Eileen said: “What is my most cherished memory of Rob? It is just him being him.”
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Wednesday 22 May 2013
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