Comment

Theo's aunt Paula Hixon, left, and mother Julia Hixon

"SOME days are so difficult to get through without him I can hardly breathe."

For Julia Hixon, life will never be the same again after losing her youngest son - "her baby" - in a hit-and-run crash.

Now, as the man responsible is put behind bars, the grieving mum has spoken for the first time about the happy and mischievous child whose death has "destroyed" her life.

On the afternoon of Friday, November 23 last year, Julia had made sausage sandwiches for her son and his friends before allowing them to go out and play, as they did most days after school.

Shopping in Whiteley with her other son Louis, she wasn't to know it would be the last time she would see him alive.

Within hours of saying goodbye, Theo had died after being left for dead following a hitand- run accident as he crossed the road with friends near Sholing's Veracity Ground.

Theo's nan, Pauline Hixon, said: "It's like a bomb has exploded among us and blown everything all over the place."

Since that day Julia, her two other children - Lydia, 16, and Louis, 14 - have struggled to come to terms with their loss - Louis finding it particularly hard to go into the bedroom he shared with his brother.

The tragedy has also destroyed what should have been a happy retirement for his grandparents who will "never recover from losing the grandson they adored," said Julia.

Speaking as Tobola was jailed, Julia said: "So many things go through your mind, why didn't I make him come with us, why didn't he just come home after his friend's house like he had planned too? But it was just normal for him to go out with his mates."

"It's seeing the younger children that gets to me. Recently I left home early in the morning to get to an appointment and I saw a young boy in his uniform going to school on his bike and it was just Theo.

"I was just in floods of tears because that was the first time I'd seen kids on their way to school since Theo was killed.

"It has changed me completely. I don't think I will ever be the same person again. I cannot ever see myself wanting to go out and socialise again. I wake up for the children and I go out to walk the dogs, that's it."

While shopping in Whiteley Julia got a call telling her that Theo had been involved in a road crash and that she had to get to the hospital quick.

She said: "My nephew rang to say there had been an accident, it was very serious and we needed to get to the hospital as quick as we could, but by the time we had got there he was gone."

Jason Tobola, 20, was driving the car that hit Theo but he failed to stop, something that Julia describes as "cowardly and inhumane".

Pauline said: "It is beyond all comprehension.

That he could have left Theo lying there, he could have just been injured and he could have got help for him, but he didn't.

"It just doesn't get any easier. Every time we talk about it, it brings everything back.

It's really difficult. I suppose we just don't have a choice, we have to live without him."

Theo, who had just started at Woolston School but had ambitions to join the police, was rarely seen without his older brother and their two cousins, Benedict and Dominic Hixon. They were inseparable, sharing their love for bikes and skateboards.

Julia said: "They were always together, going out and having fun. Now it's heartbreaking to see the three boys, knowing that Theo should be there with them.

"He was always out riding his bike everywhere.

He was so road savvy, so it was just unbelievable that this happened to him.

"He played on being the youngest, always seeing what he could get away with. He was very mischievous and loved to wind his brother up.

"He was very funny and you don't appreciate how funny they are until it's too late.

He always had us laughing even when we were trying to tell him off. He was very loving, kind and compassionate and he was just a typical 11-year-old."

Julia added: "I am glad that he Tobola has been sent to prison, that he will be punished, but he will still be able to grow old, to maybe have children, to be happy.

"People keep saying that now we have the sentence over with we can start to move on and draw a line under it all, but can you? I don't think we will ever be able to do that."

3:21pm Saturday 19th July 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login