Family of woman killed on road ‘haunted by death’
The family of a woman who was killed in a traffic accident have said that they are haunted by her death each day.
Maura Porter was killed just 150m from her home in Carndonagh, Co Donegal, as she returned home from her local church on December 30, 2013.
An inquest has found that the mother of two died as a result of misadventure. However, speaking on behalf of her family, Mrs Porter’s daughter Davina said they still have unanswered questions.
Davina, a teacher, said she lost her best friend on the day her mother was killed.
“She was a human person who walked and talked and put everyone else before herself,” she said. “I lost my best friend that evening.
“She was left on a wet cold road, struggling to breathe with awful injuries and those last memories are horrific.
“After almost five years we are still waiting, waiting, waiting and today we are left with loads of questions which are still not answered. We’re haunted by those memories and we drive by this location every day as it’s only 150m from our home.”
She also said that while her family had nothing but praise for frontline ambulance staff, they had serious concerns about the reaction times of ambulances.
Earlier in the inquest at Buncrana Courthouse, it was revealed that it took 50 minutes for an emergency ambulance to reach Mrs Porter when it traveled from Letterkenny University Hospital to Carndonagh.
Forensic collision investigator Garda Kevin Giles carried out a full investigation into the crash.
He found the damage to the vehicle was light, which suggested the impact was a glancing blow. He added that the 17.6m travelled after the impact suggested that excessive speed was not a factor in the collision.
He added that despite Mrs Porter wearing a red coat and white scarf, it would have been dark in nature as it was not reflective.
He added that the condition of the car, including a faulty light, would have to be considered a factor.
An Eircom cable found straddling both sides of the road after the collision was also raised by the coroner.
Gda Giles said that, considering the evidence said that Mrs Porter always used the footpath, the presence of the fallen cable would have to be considered a factor for her crossing the road.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict of death by misadventure.
Corner Dr McCauley said he wanted to stress that the verdict of misadventure in no way apportioned blame on anyone but it was a description of the events on the evening.
