Mrs Olive died as a result of injuries sustained in the car crash in 1971

TRIBUTES have been paid to a ‘wonderful mother’ after an inquest heard how she died of injuries suffered from a car crash more than 40 years before.

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Mother-of-three Suzanne Olive died aged 60 in July, following a deterioration of the injuries suffered in a 1971 road accident which left her paraplegic at the age of 19.

Despite being crushed by her own car during the accident in Sand Bay, she went on to have three children - Christopher, Dawn and Jennifer. She also had three grandchildren.

Dawn Olive, aged 35, said her mother was a remarkable woman who never let her injuries get in her way.

She said: “She was very loved. She gave us a wonderful childhood.

“Mum would say we’d go out for the day and we would end up in Torquay and sometimes go so far we’d run out of fuel.

“She lived an absolutely normal life and then the last three weeks went suddenly.”

Suzanne, of Broadcroft Avenue, had lived in Claverham since the early 1980s after being born in Weston and spending some time living in Cyprus.

But Flax Bourton Coroners Court was told on June 13 that the car crash in 1971 had led to several long-term health problems.

Reports from doctors said she suffered from asthma and diabetes as well as leg ulcers. Dawn, who lives in Weston, said she would travel daily to dress her mother’s wounds.

But the leg ulcers became infected in the weeks leading up to her death on July 26, and she was admitted to Weston General Hospital twice in the space of a month.

The court was told that Suzanne was a devout Jehovah’s Witness and Dawn said her faith meant a lot to her and helped her cope with the strain caused by her accident injuries.

Jennifer Olive, aged 33, and the youngest of the three children, said it did not make sense how her mother died of injuries from an accident that had occurred more than 40 years ago.

She added: “Our dad [John Olive] left when we were only young but she was the best mum ever. We never wanted for anything and she never moaned.”

The pair said they were still close to their father, who lives in Weston.

Gail Elliman, deputy coroner, said the accident had led to Mrs Olive’s death, despite the large amount of time that had passed.

She said: “The chain of events had a direct effect on her death.

“She must have been very brave. I’m going to record that she died as a result of an accident.”