A tragic mother died in a car crash as she drove home to deliver the news to her husband that she had beaten breast cancer.
Jean Allen, 66, was on her way to celebrate with husband Frank, 66, after being given the all clear when her car plunged into a water-filled ditch.
The mother of three was travelling home from her doctors on a diverted route after arsonists torched a church in a nearby village.
Jean drowned after being left trapped in the wreckage of the car and she was pronounced dead at the scene when emergency services arrived.
Devastated Frank, from March, Cambs., had to break the news to his three daughters that their mother was dead.
He said: ”What makes it all the more heartbreaking is that she had just been given the final all clear from her breast cancer.
”Emergency services had to pull the car out of the ditch but she was dead. She had very little injury at all – she died from drowning.
”Jean was always a very good and careful driver and I can?t think what would have possessed her to overtake a lorry on a road she did not know.
”It was only later that day when we were on our way back from the morgue that I realised why the traffic had been diverted.
”I can’t think about it without getting angry, it was a build up of circumstances that have changed our lives for ever.”
Jean had been returning from a consultation at Peterborough Hospital when she crashed her car in Whittlesey after apparently overtaking a lorry.
She had just been given the all-clear after a long battle with breast cancer after being treated for the disease at the same time as her eldest daughter.
Frank has now issued a heartfelt appeal for anyone who may have information on the arson attack.
He said: ”I often think that if the fire hadn?t happened then my wife would have been here today.
”That day of the fire changed everything and I hope this may trigger a feeling of guilt in a parent or youth over the feeling of loss that this has caused for me and my family.
”I don’t want vengeance, I just want justice. ”If you know or suspect who the culprits are, or if you have any feelings at all for the consequences of what your son or daughter did and you are hiding information, please come forward.
”There is someone out there who knows who did it. This has devastated the lives of me and my whole family.”
The couple, who were childhood sweethearts, married in 1964 and had recently returned from a dream holiday to America.
Mrs Allen, a dedicated Elvis fan, had visited Graceland, the home of her idol at Memphis, and Nashville.
Mr Allen added: ”We were determined to go back there because Jean loved it so much.
”We had so much that we had planned to do in the years we had left together but all of those dreams have now gone for ever.”
The blaze destroyed St Mary’s church in March causing £2million of damage and lead to a diversion on March 15 as Mrs Allen drove home to her family.
A spokesman for Cambridgeshire police said: ”Three boys were arrested at the time of the fire and released due to lack of evidence.
”Police are continuing to appeal for anyone with information to come forward and if any fresh evidence comes to light it will be fully
investigated.”