'Our future was stolen when we lost our son in a devastating West Midlands road collision'
Fatal crashes happen in a heartbeat, yet their impact lasts a lifetime.
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They not only claim people's lives but throw the worlds of those around them into chaos too, leaving family and friends devastated.
When we hear of these tragedies we often tell ourselves it won’t happen to us or our loved ones, because the thought is just too difficult to comprehend.
But the sad truth is that someone you love might leave their front door one day and never come back.
This is a reality Lynette and Damian Corfield are forced to live with every day.
Their son, Ben, was just 19 years old when he died alongside Liberty Charris, aged 16, after a car ploughed into them as they gathered on the pavement at an illegal street racing event on Oldbury Road, Oldbury, in 2022. Teenagers Ebonie Parkes and Ethan Kilburn were also seriously injured.
Ben had his whole life ahead of him. He chaired a youth council, stood for election as Dudley’s Youth Police and Crime Commissioner and was looking forward to standing as a local councillor.
The teen wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps and get involved in the motor and transport trade. He was just two days away from attending a final interview with Tesla in Northampton when his future was taken away from him.
On the night of his death, Ben had not long returned from Liverpool where he had spent two nights away with friends.
Upon arriving back home, he had a nap on the living room sofa, waking up at dinner time. He then showed his mum and dad pictures from his trip before spending some time playing on his Xbox.
It was at around 9.30pm when he told his parents he was “popping out”.
“He said ‘an hour and I will be back’," Ben's mother Lynette Corfield told the Express & Star. "I said ‘alright son, no problem’. At 9.38pm he went out the door.
“My saying to him was ‘I love you’. He always said ‘I love you back’. I would say ‘drive safe’, he would say ‘always’. That was it - and he never came home.”
Just before 1am Damian awoke wondering where his son was. Soon afterwards he was alerted by a doorbell camera on the front door to a police officer standing outside the house.
He said: “I knew something quite serious had probably happened but I didn’t think for one minute that we lost him. I went to the front door and there were two officers there.
“They asked for me by name and asked if Lynette was here, and I said ‘yes’. They said ‘can she come downstairs?’.
“I said ‘what’s happened?’ and they asked to come in and asked me to sit down. I didn’t sit down but Lynette did.
"They said 'there is no easy way to tell you this, there has been a serious incident in Oldbury tonight on the A457 by Crystal Drive'.
“They said 'your son Ben has been killed along with another young girl and some others have been injured'. I think at that split second we had the rug pulled from under us.”
Family are serving 'life sentence'
Dhiya Al-Maamoury was jailed last year for 13 years and six months for causing the deaths of Ben and Liberty by dangerous driving and for two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving - but Damian said it is him and his family who are serving a “life sentence” since losing Ben.
