Fiancee of PC Russ Wylie: "We are still struggling"
The Humberside Police traffic officer who died in a motorbike accident while on patrol last year will be remembered by his colleagues today.
A year on since Humberside PC Russ Wylie tragically died in a motorbike accident while on patrol in East Yorkshire and his fiancee has told Viking how the family's still coming to terms with their tragic loss.
The 28-year-old roads policing officer was riding a marked police motorcycle with a second police rider when it collided with a car near Burstwick in April 2015.
Today, Russ will be honoured as his colleagues set off on a mammoth cycle challenge to also raise money for a charity which helps families, like Russ's, to rebuild their lives.
Russ's fiance, Roxanne Hennebery, told us:
"To get that phone call saying that Russ has been in an accident was just horrendous and it has just been a year of shock. Even a year on, you still can't believe that he isn't here anymore and it has just been horrible.
"Just to go to work one day and then not come home again. Russ was amazing at his job and amazing at riding his bike and you just don't expect something like that to happen to him.
"I remember the day, I got blue lighted to the hospital to see him hoping that when I got there he would be okay but when I got there but he never came round. We were really happy, we had everything ready for our wedding, we had loads of plans. It teaches you not to take life for granted because one minute it's all there and the next it has all gone."
Humberside PC Helen Mann knew Russ well and is riding in his memory. She told us:
"He was a police motorcyclist within traffic like myself so I knew him really well and we were all devastated by his loss. It was a really awful time not just for his close traffic colleagues but for everyone throughout the force since he joined.
"That final ride into the National Memorial Arboretum on Sunday with all the families there will be really emotional. My inspiration is Russ's parents and being able to present them with that memorial band on the Sunday."
PC Mann says they're also hoping to raise awareness of the dangers police officers face on a daily basis:
"These days we are a thinning community, the thin blue line as we say with all the cuts but unfortunately some officers pay the ultimate price and this is why we do events like this to make sure they're remembered."
The Humberside Police officers taking part in the UK Police Unity Tour will cycle from the National Police Memorial in London to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
PC Darren Kirkwood, PC Helen Mann, PC Robert Blake, PC James Ross (Support Driver) and Karen Ford, the survivor of Humberside Police officer Steve Stimpson) will cycle the 180 mile route between July 29 and 31.
They are raising money for COPS (Care Of Police Survivors) who help the families of police officers killed in the line of duty rebuild their lives.
Each rider will be issued a blue memorial bracelet inscribed with the name and information of a police officer who died in the line of duty, which we will carry to the finish line.
Further details of their death can be found on the Police Roll of Honour.
Team Just Giving Page - https://www.justgiving.com/teams/humpolukput2016