A MOTHER has spoken of her anguish over the death of her five-year-old son in a car crash two years ago, and how his life, and death, inspired her to become a full-time writer.

Sharon Marie Jones, who has released her first book and is working on her second, was left devastated after her son Ned died along with his grandmother on the A470 between Rhayader and Llangurig on Good Friday in 2016.

Sharon, from Capel Bangor but born and raised in Dolgellau, spoke to the Cambrian News this week about how her life has changed in the past two years.

The 41-year-old mother-of-three, who visited Waterstones Aberystwyth this week to hold an event talking about her first book Grace-Ella: Spells for Beginners, said “writing has been a huge coping strategy” since the death of her son after beginning several years before in a bid to tackle depression.

“I can’t remember sitting at my laptop writing, but I do remember feeling so crushed with despair and suffocating with panic that I had to find some form of release," said Sharon.

“This release came with writing.

“Writing the words out helped me try to make some sense of the turmoil inside.

“Losing a child is the worst loss any parent can suffer."

Sharon, a graduate of Aberystwyth University and former teacher at Pontrhydfendigaid Primary School, said she began writing Grace-Ella, a book that was published after Ned’s death, in 2013.

“I had always dreamed of being an author,” she said. “At six weeks old, Ned was diagnosed with meningitis and I had never been so struck by how precious life is until I watched my baby boy fight for his life.

“Ned made a full recovery and it was then that I decided that life was too short for missed opportunities.”

See this week’s Cambrian News for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now