Michelle and Chelsea talk about what happened to Kial, and the bond they built with their Brake caseworker
Michelle’s son Kial was always on the go. Whether he was going out with friends, playing football or hanging out with his younger sister Chelsea, Kial was someone you could rely on. So, when he was due to meet a friend one afternoon in December 2023 and didn’t show up, his family began to worry.
At 2 o’clock the next morning, after Kial had been missing for around 10 hours, Michelle got the knock on the door every parent dreads. The police came to tell her they’d discovered a van submerged in a river nearby, but they hadn’t yet located Kial.
“Nobody was telling us anything,” recalls Michelle. “We knew the van was upside down in the river, but we didn’t know if it was him in the van. It was the longest, most horrific day of my life.”
On Saturday 2 December, police confirmed the van was Kial’s and the family’s worst fears came true.
The previous day Kial had been driving home from a work trip in Scotland. He’d got as far as Uttoxeter – a little over half an hour from home – when tragedy struck. Kial collided head-on with an HGV lorry as he approached a blind bend on a stretch of country road that bridged a river. The crash sent Kial’s van plunging into the water. Emergency services pulled him from the river the next day. He was 31 when he died.
Michelle and Chelsea spent the following weeks in a daze. They had to tackle some difficult practical things, like retrieving Kial’s belongings from the van and reliving the trauma during the investigation.
The inquest into Kial’s death raised concerns that the speed limit of 60mph was too high for the road layout and surroundings. Highlighting previous crashes in the same spot, the coroner found that there was a risk of future deaths, with a police collision expert suggesting that lowering the speed limit would reduce the risk of collisions. To date, no action has been taken and the speed limit on that stretch of road remains at 60mph.
“It just didn’t seem real for a very long time,” Chelsea says. “We just got on with it, but time stopped. I was just going to work and coming home, then going to work and coming home again. I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping. I was becoming really poorly.”
Like her daughter, Michelle was overwhelmed with grief, and despite having a strong support system of friends and family around her, she withdrew and became isolated. “I stopped going out – I didn't want to see anybody. I was scared to walk the street in case somebody stopped me,” she comments.
That’s when Michelle reached out to Brake. She contacted the National Road Victim Service and was put in touch with Vicky, a local Brake caseworker. They arranged a phone call and soon after, they met up in person.
Time stopped. I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping. I was becoming really poorly.
Chelsea recalls life before she met her Brake caseworker, Vicky
"My world was in a blur, so I can’t remember the first time I met Vicky, but we just sat and talked. It was hard to reach out to somebody who didn’t know me, but she just got me,” Michelle says. “She knew what to say and when to say it. She told me what I was feeling was normal.”
Vicky also supported Chelsea, providing a listening ear and sound advice. “I remember Vicky trying to get to know me, and asking me, ‘What is it you want help with?’ She made me healthier and made me carry on. Vicky was holding us all together at that point.”
The family wanted to honour Kial’s life in the most fitting way. He was football mad and played for many clubs, both as a child and teenager and into adulthood. So, last November, Chelsea along with Kial’s many friends and football teammates organised a charity football match in his name.
Kial was so well-loved that they ended up with 25 players on each team at the event, which was held during Road Safety Week 2024 and raised £2,000 for Brake.
Kial was football mad and played for many clubs, both as a child and teenager and into adulthood.
Michelle and Chelsea are still adjusting to life without Kial – a loss they feel all the more in the run-up to the anniversary of his death, just weeks before Christmas. For the last two years, the holiday has passed without celebration, marked by sadness rather than joy.
This year, though, they are more hopeful for the future. In July, Chelsea welcomed a baby boy – Michelle’s first grandchild – who will grow up with wonderful stories about the uncle he’ll never know.
“My light that had been off started to flicker again,” Michelle says. “And this Christmas I will have something to smile about.”