Girlfriend of man killed in horror smash is pregnant

THE partner of an Edinburgh man who died in a horror smash on the notorious A9 road is pregnant with her second child.

Michael Patrick Joyce, who lived on the Canongate, was sitting in the front seat of the silver Renault Kangoo that his girlfriend Hazel Gibson was driving when it was involved in a head-on collision with a Peugeot on Friday night.

Mr Joyce, 31, was declared dead by paramedics at the scene despite the best efforts of emergency crews who rushed there.

Miss Gibson’s seven-year-old son Cole Jay Gibson, who was sitting in a back seat of the car, died at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on Sunday morning.

Miss Gibson, 29, from Lochgelly in Fife, suffered serious injuries and is in a stable condition at Ninewells, where she is expected to “fully recover” from the physical aspect of her injuries. She has been told Mr Joyce – who was not Cole’s father – was killed in the crash.

Today, Miss Gibson said she found some comfort that Cole’s organs will be donated to help other youngsters.

Her son decided he wanted to be on the donor register aged just five after picking up a leaflet that came through the family’s letter box.

She said: “Knowing that Cole’s death is helping other children waiting for transplants is helping me in some way to come to terms with what has happened.”

“I already know that his heart is going to a two-year-old girl and that has given me a glimmer of hope knowing that, whilst he is not here, he’s making a difference to a very sick young girl elsewhere in the UK.”

Miss Gibson added that it had been a “miracle” that she had not miscarried as a result of the accident.

She said: “I can only think that wearing a special pregnancy bump seatbelt helped in some way, although I can never be sure.”

Mr Joyce is thought to have worked as a lighting technician and was a regular at club Studio 24 on Calton Road.

Two women from the dark blue Peugeot, aged 18 and 19, were also taken to hospital with minor injuries but were released after treatment.

All five had been trapped in the wreckage of their vehicles. Firefighters used hydraulic cutting equipment to free them, while four medical teams and the trauma unit from Ninewells worked at the roadside.

The road was closed for around seven hours following the accident at around 7.30pm on the A9 Perth to Inverness road, just north of Bankfoot in Perthshire, while emergency services assisted and carried out investigations.

Miss Gibson, who is originally from Kent, was driving northbound when the car collided in the dark with the Peugeot, which was travelling in the opposite direction.

A Tayside Police spokesman added: “Mr Joyce was the front-seat passenger of a northbound silver Renault Kangoo, while Cole Gibson was in a rear seat at the time of the incident. The 29-year-old woman who was driving the vehicle at the time suffered serious injuries.”

A full investigation is ongoing.