So, So Cruel

Health & safety neglect robbed them of their daddy By Natasha Sorsby, 23, Oldham

- Jow Cusack

As I dozed in bed, my fiance Jason Fogarty popped in to kiss me goodbye. ‘Have a good day,’ I smiled sleepily. ‘Be careful.’ With a grin and a kiss, Jason left for work.

Soon after, I got up – and Jason’s son Tyler, 3, awoke. ‘Daddy’s gone to work,’ I told him. ‘Home soon.’

It was December 2013 – three days before Christmas and Tyler was so excited. And we all had an extra special reason to celebrate.

I was pregnant! We’d found out two weeks earlier and Jason was over the moon. When we’d met three years before, Jason was already a single dad to Tyler.

Though I was only 17, I knew instantly Jason was The One. We just clicked. I moved out of the home I shared with my mum Carol and stepdad Roy, and in with Jason and Tyler.

And when I’d found out I was having a baby, we were so happy. Jason was keen to earn extra cash to help when the baby came.

Roy ran his own roofing company, so offered Jason some work. That was typical of Roy.

He was a real family man, and had a heart of gold. When I was a teenager, he’d make my breakfast before school, give me lifts to my mates’ houses. We were so close.

Jason was thrilled at the extra work. ‘I’ll take all the shifts I can,’ he told Roy. Only, that afternoon, my phone rang. It was Roy.

‘Jason’s had an accident,’ he said breathlessly. ‘You need to come quickly.’ Panic-stricken, I rushed to Manchester Royal Infirmary.