Tragedy as mum whose husband and son were killed in car crash is widowed for second time

A woman whose husband and son were killed in a car crash has been hit by new tragedy as she was widowed for a second time.

Anna-Louise Bates tragically lost her husband Stuart and seven-year-old son Fraser when they were hit by a car as they walked home from a Christmas party in December 2015. Now her second husband Flight Sergeant Zachary Stubbings has died at the age of 47.

Anna-Louise met Zachary through the charity Believe, which she set up to campaign and raise awareness about organ donation in memory of her husband and son.

Fraser's organs were donated and used to save four lives, leading to Anna-Louise setting up a charity to improve the organ donation process and promote the support to families and donors. She met Zach as he collected a Fraser Bear, the charity's mascot, after having a stem cell transplant as part of his treatment for blood cancer. He had multiple myeloma, a cancer that affects the bone marrow and plasma cells.

The pair initially started seeing each other as friends, but after some encouragement from his two sons Iestyn and Owynn, as well as Anna-Louise's daughter Elizabeth, Zach proposed at Castell Coch in November 2019. The pair tied the knot in late 2020, after their wedding was initially postponed due to the pandemic.

At the time, Anna-Louise said: "Zach is the kindest, most thoughtful man imaginable. He's very special - I am sure my boys would be pleased if they could see us now. I wondered if I could ever be happy again after losing them. Finding love again was not even on my mind but meeting Zach was a turning point in my life and it has been so wonderful to smile again."

The RAF instructor was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2012 after many years of being exposed to toxic helicopter