Crash victim lost wife to cancer last month

A MAN killed in a head-on crash on the City Bypass had lost his wife to cancer just a month ago, it emerged today.

Keith Miller, 36, from Penicuik, was driving alone when his blue Skoda Fabia crashed into a Ford Ka car driven by 31-year-old Yvonne Malone, from Edinburgh, at around 1.15am on Sunday.

Both drivers died from their injuries and investigations are still under way into the cause of the crash.

One of the vehicles involved was travelling in the wrong direction when the crash happened half a mile west of the Sheriffhall roundabout.

Today, Mr Miller's neighbour and friend Mike Sharkey told how Mr Miller was still coming to terms with the recent death of his wife.

Mr Sharkey, 56, a part-time manager for an IT company in Livingston, said the couple were originally planning to marry abroad in 2013 but brought the wedding forward to the end of last year after discovering that Mrs Miller's cancer was terminal.

He said: "My wife Alicyn had lymphoma and died in January 2009, so I was able to talk Keith through the low points. He seemed to be coping reasonably well. I spoke to him just last week and he had gone through the trauma of picking up his wife's ashes on the Wednesday. He was keeping himself busy.

"The cancer started in his wife's lung and then spread. They found out it was inoperable last year. Their original plan was to get married in the West Indies, I think in Barbados, in 2013, but they brought it forward to late last year and they had the reception at the Craigiebield Hotel in Penicuik."

Mr Sharkey also said Mr Miller had only just bought the blue Skoda around a week before the accident.

He said: "He was really pleased with it. He always used to park it by the window so he could keep an eye on it. We had a laugh about that.

"He was a quiet guy but a nice guy, and we went for a pint a few times and we would talk over our situations.

"He used to enjoy playing snooker, but he hated most other sports like football and cricket, which took out a huge amount of conversation because I love sport!

"When I got my car stuck in the snow the first year I moved here, he came out with a shovel and dug me out."

Eyewitnesses described seeing one of the vehicles driving the wrong way along the westbound carriageway before it collided with the other.

Mr Sharkey, a father-of-four and grandfather-of-three, added: "It's an absolute tragedy. When I found out about the accident, I just couldn't believe it."

Mr Sharkey added that Mr Miller had met his wife while working at Costco several years ago.

A Lothian and Borders Police spokeswoman said: "Our inquiries are still ongoing into the circumstances surrounding the accident and we are still appealing for anyone who may have seen either a light blue Ford Ka or a blue Skoda Fabia on the City Bypass.

"We are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident, however we need to fully establish the circumstances."