Grieving mother is expecting girl on her late daughter’s birthday

A mother who lost two children in a horror crash with a drunk and drugged-up driver is due to give birth to a baby girl on her late daughter’s birthday. Rhiannon Lucas (pictured left), 26, held a gender reveal announcement to tell family that she was expecting a baby girl next year.

Ms Lucas (pictured) lost two young children, Gracie-Ann, four, and brother Jayden-Lee, three, when they were killed by the van while stopped on the hard shoulder of the M4. The youngsters, from Tredegar, near Merthyr Tydfil, had been returning from a birthday party at around 1.45pm on February 5. 

The family stopped in the hard shoulder before drugged-up and drunk driver Martin Newman, 41, swerved across three lanes and into their vehicle. Newman had been driving his white Ford Transit van just hours after drinking vodka and 10 cans of cider while also taking cocaine until 5am. He even took a swig of wine at the wheel after placing a bottle in the cup holder of his vehicle. Heartbroken Ms Lucas and partner Adam Saunders were in the car when the tragedy occurred near Tredegar Park in Newport, Gwent. Pictured: Gracie-Ann, (left), four, and Jayden-Lee, (right), three. 

The children’s mother also had to be rushed to hospital with broken ribs and a torn liver. The crash happened on the westbound carriageway between junctions 28 and 29, prompting a huge emergency services response and causing the route to be closed for around seven hours. Pictured: Rhiannon Lucas, 26, (right), and partner Adam Saunders, (left). 

The couple have now announced they are expecting a baby girl on April 10, who they plan to name Summer Gracie in tribute to her big sister. Ms Lucas’s due date falls on what would be Gracie-Ann’s (pictured) sixth birthday next year. She said: ‘We didn’t do the reveal around the children’s grave due to the bad weather, so we held it in my front garden. My nan passed away last week, but before she passed she was excited with the news. The baby will never replace my beautiful brown-eyed angels who would be excited to have a baby sister. I was crying and felt really bad when I found out about the pregnancy and what would my kids think of me having another one but deep down, I know it was a gift from them.’

Rhiannon, of Tredegar, South Wales, says she is still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy as she faces her first Christmas without her children. She said: ‘I’m still like a nervous wreck to be honest, when I get in a car, I always make sure I wear my seat belt. ‘We are not celebrating Christmas this year, as it’s not the same without my two brown-eyed angels.’ Pictured: Jayden-Lee Lucas.  

Call center worker Adam, 27, said: ‘It’s like fate. For the due date to be on Gracie’s birthday, it’s like the kids were sending us a message. I was hands in my face gobsmacked. I was speechless. For my first child and Rhiannon’s third, to be due on Gracie’s birthday, well it’s incredible. It’s a special child.’ The gender reveal comes after Newman was jailed for nine years and four months at Cardiff Crown Court in April. Prosecutor Roger Griffiths said painter and decorator had been drinking at a Travelodge into the early hours — and even took a sip of wine in his cup holder while driving. He was staying at the hotel near Leicester for work when he went back to his room and drank ten cans of Strongbow and took drugs until 5am. 

Newman (pictured) attempted to go to work the following morning but was too ‘tired, drained and hungover.’ He decided to make the journey back to Bridgend, South Wales, with a bottle of wine in his cup holder. Newman, of Croeserw, near Neath, pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of the children by dangerous driving. He also admitted seriously injuring their mother by dangerous driving and driving while above the alcohol and drug limit. Both children suffered catastrophic brain injuries in the crash while mom Rhiannon suffered rib fractures and a torn liver. Gracie-Ann died at 4.45am the following day while brother Jayden-Lee died five days later at the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff. 

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