LAST Monday I was sat next to 72-year-old Ray Holt in the front room of his home in Revidge Road, Blackburn.

In a moving interview he talked about his wife Freda, who was killed by a hit and run driver outside the same front window.

I’d spent the weekend with my own family, celebrating my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary - a milestone Mr Holt and his wife had just started discussing a week before they were cruelly separated by Salim Chand.

Mr Holt said he plans to stay in his house at Revidge Road.

The reason I asked the question was because every morning he opens the curtains and looks past photographs of his beloved wife on the windowsill, out at the scene of her premature death.

I also asked about the family’s faith.

Freda was well-known in the local community for being a devout church-goer who helped out less mobile residents with meals, shopping and running social groups.

That someone so dedicated to helping others could be killed by someone with absolutely no regard for the consequences of his actions, must have shaken their faith, I ventured.

But both Mr Holt and his daughter Rachel replied that their beliefs had made them stronger.

They both said without that faith, they could have been broken by what happened.

I’m not sure I could say the same in their position, but it is clear that the family are managing to move forward together.

As we talked, some of the grandchildren came in and out, one made me a huge cup of tea, others went to the local shop.

It prompted another question from me about whether they will now wrap their kids and grandkids up in cotton wool, warning them every time they set foot out of the house.

Again, their response was unexpected. Both said that they had been crossing Revidge Road for years and it was no different to any other road. What happened could have been on any road during Chand’s high-speed dash through Blackburn.

It is those kind of ‘what if’ thoughts that can leave your head spinning coming away from an emotive interview.

But for the family it can last a lifetime. That’s why Mr Holt’s assertion that he will ‘look forward and remember the positives’ is not only a good quote, but absolutely necessary.