The widow of a lorry driver killed when his truck crashed on the notorious Berriedale Braes has opened her heart about her loss.
Bruce Cormack was on the return leg of a job from Invergordon to the family firm’s Caithness base when the tragedy happened on referendum night last year.
This week, a fatal accident inquiry into the devoted father-of-one’s death heard his brakes failed just before the crash.
The skills and experience of the partner in WD Cormack and Sons were also praised during the hearing.
After the inquiry, his widow Lynn, 40, spoke exclusively to the Press and Journal about her grief and how the couple’s son Scott, six, is taking after his father already.
Mrs Cormack, of Durran, near Thurso, said that what happened at Berriedale Braes on the night of September 18, 2014, was a “freak accident”.
She added: “If there was anything Bruce could have done to prevent this from happening he would have.
“He knew that road like the back of his hand, and if anyone knew how to take that corner, he did.
“Bruce was so highly thought of by everyone – you could ask anyone and they would tell you that he would never have said a bad word about anyone.
“He lived and breathed Cormack’s Transport. He was one of the best lorry drivers – you could ask anyone that. As well as his son, Scott, it was his life and he just loved his work.
Bruce was a grafter from day one and I can see that in Scott.
What breaks my heart is that him and his son have lost out on a great life together. That is something I will never come to terms with – and I’ve lost my husband.
“Bruce loved his brothers and his whole family so much. His funeral was the biggest funeral ever held in Caithness and well over a thousand people attended.”
At Monday’s FAI at Wick Sheriff Court, vehicle examiner Ian Brown gave evidence and said: “I knew Bruce Cormack from my time at Wick testing station.
“He was an experienced driver. I don’t think he would have continued if he had noticed a problem with the vehicle.
“I think he would have known what could potentially go wrong.”
It also emerged during the inquiry that Mr Cormack’s policeman brother Stuart, 30, was called to attend the crash.
Mrs Cormack added: “I would also like to pay tribute to Bruce’s brothers, James and Stuart, who loved their brother very much and thought very highly of him, and for having to sit through and listen to all of the evidence in the inquiry.”