SOMETIMES a person makes such a difference in their lives that words are not enough.
But this year, at the Pride of St Helens Awards we are going to be honouring a brave little girl and her courageous parents who kept her legacy alive and made her tragic death spur them on to help others.
This year we will be awarding a Making a Difference Award to Violet-Grace Youens. Below is why.
The community united in love and support around the four-year-old's heartbroken family.
And, when they called for change after the driver and passenger in the car that claimed her life were given short jail sentences, our town listened.
Her parents Glenn and Becky Youens launched a petition calling for the law to be altered.
They asked for the maximum tariff of 14 years for those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving to be scrapped and that judges instead be given powers to impose life sentences.
St Helens – and people across the nation – rallied behind the family and their brave decision to share harrowing details of that day led to 167,000 signatures and a parliamentary debate.
In June this year there was finally a change in sentencing powers – dubbed Violet’s Law.
This means that dangerous drivers who cause death can now be sentenced to life in prison.
On hearing the news the parents reacted by saying: “We are so proud of Violet, we always were, and this is just part of her legacy, now it’s on the judges to use what we fought for. Give families justice, don’t wait.
“Our suffering never gets easier and will never go away, but if we had had [a minimum of]15 years to focus on that knowing justice was done for our daughter, it would have helped.
“It’s not enough for a life, but it is enough to make an impact to those left behind. Those who feel that loss everyday.”
Violet’s legacy is not just in the law, after her death, the kind youngster’s nature inspired her parents to donate her organs, which saved two lives.
They then set up a charity in her name called Violet-Grace’s Gift which as well as raising awareness of organ donation, encouraged more than 4,000 more people in St Helens to sign the organ donor register, prior to the law change on the subject.
The charity also regularly raise funds for the hospitals.
To mark their relentless campaigning for Violet's Law, Pride of St Helens judges have decided to present her parents with a special Making a Difference Award.
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