‘Every milestone’ now reminds her of the tragedy. The pain of seeing her son die in front of her on her birthday returned to her mother when she saw the aftermath of a crash last week. Bobby Colleran was only six years old when he was killed by a van in October 2014.
His mother, Joanne, insists that the grief does not get easier with time as the eight-year anniversary of the tragedy approaches. It all came back to the 43-year-old when she saw a car knock a teenage boy off his electric bike in Liverpool last Tuesday (September 20).
According to the Liverpool Echo, the incident in West Derby left the youngster with a serious head injury and he was rushed to hospital. Joanne, who had been dropping her other three sons off at school, said: “It’s bizarre because we were just there as it had happened but your whole inside turns over.
“You think whoever it is, their parents, their family, I hope they’re ok. You kind of go through all of your emotions again and then it just puts stuff in your mind.
“I used to love September/October, the run-up to autumn, it was one of my favorite times of year – and now the minute the chill comes in the air it’s horrible. I just relive everything, every day – what we were doing when he was here.”
‘Every milestone,’ Joanne says, now reminds her of Bobby. On a day when the family should have been celebrating, he was hit by a van on Leyfield Road in West Derby.
Speaking ahead of the anniversary of Bobby’s death, Joanne said: “It is a difficult day. What makes it harder is it’s my birthday on the day he died.
“People say grief gets easier and it doesn’t. It’s like every milestone, everything that happens you’re like where is he? He was the middle one of the kids.”
Joanne set up the Bobby Colleran Trust shortly after Bobby’s death to campaign for improved road safety throughout the city. The charity announced the launch of its ‘Take Care for Bobby’ campaign to support the mental health of children and young people in the Liverpool City Region in March of last year.
Joanne initiated the improvement of accessible therapy for young people by providing counseling services in schools and children’s centers in response to the impact on Bobby’s siblings’ mental health. Joe Rogerson decided to participate in the Ironman Challenge in Italy on September 18 after learning about the campaign, with all profits earned benefiting the Bobby Colleran Trust.
The Ironman Challenge consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile cycle, and a marathon 26.2-mile run, which Joe completed in 15 hours and 12 minutes. Joe, originally from Jersey and living in Kirkdale, said: “I’ve got three kids myself so I just thought that would be the right charity and they were over the moon.”