I leave a chair at Christmas table every year for my five-year-old son who died in crash – it never gets any easier
THE heartbroken mum of a five-year-old boy killed in a horror crash has revealed she still keeps a chair at the table for him every Christmas.
Ned Jones died in the head-on smash along with his gran Margaretta Jones, 77, and two others on Good Friday in 2016.
His mum Sharon Marie, from Aberystwyth, has now told of her heartache as she prepares for her eighth Christmas without the youngster.
She told the BBC: “Ned’s stocking will always be empty on his bed.
“There will be an empty space where his gifts should be and there is always an empty chair at the table – Ned’s chair.”
Sharon said she makes an effort for her two other children but ensures Ned is never forgotten.
The mum makes sure his stocking is put out with the others rather than being left in the attic and hangs a special bauble to remember her son on the tree.
She said she still imagines what Ned, who would almost be 13, would like for Christmas.
Speaking about she copes with her grief, Sharon added: “In a way a few things are getting easier. I don’t feel that guilty now for not visiting family and friends at Christmas – what’s important is to do what feels right for us.
“I shop online, I avoid going into the middle of a crowd and it will be just the four of us at Christmas.
“In the morning I will go to Ned’s grave by myself and have about half an hour just me and him.
“The children are busy opening their presents at that time and in the afternoon the four of us will go to the grave while going for a walk.”
Ned was travelling with Margaretta in her Vauxhall Agila when they collided head-on with a Seat Leon on the A470.
The Seat driver survived the crash but his mum Vida Alford, 86, and wife, Gillian Alford, 58, both died at the scene.
Sharon says her youngest child Cai was just 18 months when his brother was killed so does not remember him.
But son Tomi sadly sometimes “goes quiet” when the mum is sharing her memories of Ned.
Sharon added: “The time of Ned’s birthday is extremely difficult, and every Good Friday and the date he died, but sometimes difficult times come from nowhere.
“As an author, writing has helped, but not at the moment. My artwork also helps but sometimes I can’t cope at all.”