A mother’s loss can be the law’s gain

Christina Donnelly’s son was killed by a drunk driver. She is fighting for change, says Rachel Borrill.

IN Oct 2009, Christina Donnelly received the phone call every parent dreads. Her youngest son, Brendan, 24, and his friend, Lee Salkfield, had been killed by a driver who had consumed 23 drinks — 11 cans and bottles of beer, seven pints of beer, two vodkas, three shots of After Shock — and a line of cocaine.

Christina’s voice shakes with raw grief, as she describes life without Brendan. “For the first year, I was numb, I could not accept or get my head around that my gorgeous, beautiful son had been taken away from me,’’ she says.