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Firefighter dedicates award to son
AN OXFORD firefighter who cycled 1,000 miles and toured schools to highlight seatbelt safety after the death of his son in a car crash has won a national award.
Bob Paterson, Fire and Rescue Service watch manager, won the Firefighters Charity Supporter of the Year award at the Spirit of Fire Awards in London.
His son Dale, 13, died in a car crash on holiday in Italy in August 2005 because he was not wearing his seatbelt correctly.
The firefighter received the accolade for masterminding the Cycle 4 Seatbelt Land's End to John O'Groats bike ride last year, which raised £15,000 for the firefighters' benevolent fund.
Along the way, Mr Paterson, 47, visited schools to explain the dangers of not wearing seatbelts. He has now visited 30 primary and secondary schools across the country, including 15 in Oxfordshire, showing pupils a DVD, made by Dale's friends at John Mason School, Abingdon.
In the DVD, Losing Dale, pupils talked candidly about their sadness at losing their friend. A copy of the DVD has now been sent to every secondary school in Oxfordshire. About 200 more have been sent to council road safety teams across England.
Jane Evason, 51, of Evenlode Close in Grove, whose son Gareth, 19, was killed by a drink driver in 1998, said: "I think his work will already have saved children's lives. The message in the DVD is powerful enough that children will put on their seatbelts - and their lives will be saved if they're ever in an accident.
"Children respond to a message from someone who has lost a child because they can see how the loss would affect their mum or dad."
Mr Paterson, who is based at Rewley Road in Oxford, said: "It was an honour to be recognised for our efforts but I must give a big thank you to my fire service colleagues who have helped me so much since I lost my son Dale.
"I spoke from my heart, dedicating the award to my son.
"I want to continue fundraising in June by cycling 365 miles between the county's 23 fire stations and will continue to spread the message of the 365 Alive campaign, which aims to reduce road deaths by 365 over the next 10 years."
Mr Paterson, Neil Godfrey, Owen Pates and Steve Jordan did the 1,020-mile, 18-day ride last summer.
Mr Paterson was invited to a reception for award winners at 10 Downing Street, where he met Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Dale died in Mosciano, Italy, while travelling with his mother Helen and her boyfriend, Richard Bianchini, from Cowley, Oxford, who was driving.
Bianchini got a suspended sentence for the Italian equivalent of dangerous driving and was disqualified from driving for five months.
8:32am Tuesday 25th March 2008
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