Written by Last week was the inquest into Pammy’s death.
As I am sure that at some point in the future the story will disappear in a website restructure, I am linking to the original story, but also copying the contents.
The below is taken from The Essex Chronicle.
http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/news/Crash-victim-avoided-fox/article-3031260-detail/article.html
Crash victim may have avoided fox
AN ANIMAL-LOVER who died when her car ploughed into a tree may have swerved to avoid a fox.
Pamela Willis, 25, had just gone over the Army and Navy roundabout and was heading towards Howe Green on the A1114 in her two-seat Toyota sports car when she suddenly veered left off the road.
An inquest on Tuesday of last week heard that her car toppled the tree, and the impact ripped the roof from her car and cut her seatbelt.
Pamela had overtaken Sarah Grant’s Ford Focus just after the roundabout and was believed to be doing about 70mph on the dual carriageway.
Sarah and her husband Stephen pulled over and ran down the embankment to try to rescue her, but there was nothing they could do.
Sarah broke down in tears outside the inquest, in New London Road, Chelmsford, and said “I’m so sorry” to Pamela’s mum as the two tearful women hugged.
Pamela’s dad Clifford said: “She was a fantastic young lady, full of life and with so much going for her.
“This has left a huge void but she will always be there for us. We miss her terribly, as do all our friends and family.
“We have some absolutely wonderful memories of Pamela, and they will always be cherished.
“We would also like to thank the couple who stopped for everything they tried to do, and also to thank the emergency services for their work.
“We are grateful to get clarification on some things today, and as a family we can hopefully now begin to move forward.”
Deputy coroner Eleanor McGann returned a verdict of accidental death.
She said: “Miss Willis lost control of her vehicle. The fact that there was still a warm dead fox in the road means it’s more than likely that the fox contributed in some way to the incident.
“Miss Willis was an animal lover, and if she had seen a fox run out, she would have done anything she could to avoid it.
“We can never be certain, but I am certain this was an accident.”
The crash took place at 10.45pm and the court heard that the night was dark, cold and cloudy, but dry, and that the road was damp but not icy.
It was confirmed that Pamela had no drugs or alcohol in her system and that she was wearing her seatbelt.
Deborah Manning, of the Essex Police Collision Unit, said: “Unfortunately, the crash was such that a seatbelt made no difference.
“There is no physical evidence as to why Pamela lost control of the vehicle.”
After overtaking the Grants’ Focus, she continued in the inside lane for half a mile before veering across both lanes and down the embankment.
At one point her car went airborne before landing in a ditch due to its speed.
At this time of year you can’t help think about her, especially as it is coming up to what would have been her 26th birthday.
Happy Christmas Pammy, wherever you are! I still love you and miss you loads, and that’s not going to change any time soon xx
James had the full outfit – white suit, frilly shirt and the all important platforms – not his favourite bit of the costume, it has to be said!
However, I am trying to adopt a more ‘Pam’ style of living – we used to chat about a lot of things including my need to make some new friends and generally get out more. James and I spend far too much time on our computers and we should go out experience life a bit more. So, we have been arranging meeting up with as many friends as possible lately and we intend to make more of an effort full stop. Photos as well – we need to start taking photos of evenings out and places we visit – we hardly have any of our own of Pammy.
I was perusing the BBC Essex site while at lunch at work today, when I happened upon an article about a crash that happened on Monday night at 10:45 on the A1114, involving a 25 year old woman – well loads of them about – but driving a silver MR2. I instinctively thought “Pam’s got a silver MR2 – and she’s 25″. I immediately texted James as he’d been giving her advice the previous night about domain names. No James hadn’t heard from her. I hadn’t had a reply from the text I’d sent earlier in the morning. How could I find out?