Award ‘well deserved’ for inspirational Anita Thompson, from Middleton-in-Teesdale

A DALE mum who has used her family's heartache and grief after the death of her son in a horrific car accident in an effort to prevent further tragedies received the inspirational person of the year award of the Teesdale Mercury's Community Pride Awards.
Anita Thompson’s son Nick Davidson, 28, died when the car in which he was a passenger left the road near Whorlton, crashed into a tree and burst into flames.
The incident also claimed the life of the car driver, Nick’s close friend, Grant Benson.
Since the accident, in August 2014, Ms Thompson has become involved in WiseDrive – Drive for Life, a police led road safety campaign which also involves Durham County Council and the fire service.
This has included Ms Thompson and other members of her family taking part in a short film in which they describe life with Nick, give a harrowing account of what happened and the effect the accident has had on them.
Rather than address the audience, Ms Thompson agreed for the film to be shown.
During the five-minute film, she says her son made a bad choice by getting into a car with someone who had been drinking.
Introducing Ms Thompson to the audience, Paul Watson, Durham County Council's road safety manager, said her award was well deserved.
“Anita is a huge inspiration to everyone involved in the road safety profession – the council and our partners in the police and fire service.
“Nick's story has been shown to thousands of people to make people think about the choices they make.”
He said what happened to Nick could all have been avoided if he hadn't made a bad choice.
Mr Watson said the number of young people killed and injured on the county’s roads was the biggest problem facing safety campaigners.
He added: “Anita is a very private person and will not like me for saying this, but she does a lot to support people who have also been bereaved as a result of traffic accidents.
“She is an inspiration, and through her work and what we are doing as a county council with the police and fire service, we are trying to get casualties down.”
The WiseDrive film featuring Ms Thompson can be viewed at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=QlTZ7v_2xP0

PICTURE: Anita Thompson receives her award from Paul Watson, Durham County Council’s road safety manager, with, from left, Alan Hinkes, Mercury editor Trevor Brookes and chairwoman Carolyn Vane