THE dad of a young man involved in two horrific accidents has spoken out on his fear that his son had been injured again.

Reece Clarke, now 26, was being driven by Cherise Lyons when she fatally lost control of a van and killed 100-year-old Joan Roskilly.

He had already been left brain damaged after a crash in 2011 when he had recently qualified as a special police officer.

Reece suffered horrific injuries while in the passenger seat of a marked police car driven by Pc Ian Thompson when it ploughed into a taxi and flipped over.

He suffered a fractured skull and went into a coma while the driver of the taxi also suffered serious injuries.

The police car was travelling at about 75mph when the driver jumped a red light in Broadmayne, in Basildon, and collided with the taxi.

Pc Ian Thompson, the driver, admitted careless driving and was fined.

And now, Reece’s dad, Steve Clarke, has spoken of his horror when he heard Reece was involved in this second crash.

For several heart-stopping minutes, Mr Clarke, 55, of Thorpe Hall Close, believed his son had been injured in another shocking accident.

He said: “One of Reece’s carers called me and said Reece had had an accident.

“I was round the corner so I dashed down there thinking all the time about what might have happened to him.

“I got there before the ambulance and the police and could see someone had been run over.

“I thought it was Reece.

“I was so relieved to find him still sitting in the car.

“The carer driving the car was from an agency. She’d been with us five or six times so she was used to the car. It was just a terrible accident.”

Reece had been making huge improvements since the horrific crash left him with life-changing injuries. He eventually returned home in 2014, after more than 1,000 people signed a petition calling for his family to be allowed to adapt a bungalow in Thorpe Bay.

Mr Clarke applied to extend his new bungalow in Thorpe Hall Close, Thorpe Bay, so a nurse could give Reece round-the-clock care – but Southend councillors threw out the plans, fearing they would spoil the look of the upmarket area - before they were eventually approved.

Reece had been making great progress, and was on his way to a first date at the time of the accident.

Although, sadly, he fears he may now be “bad luck”.

Mr Clarke said: “Reece was on a first date and they had stopped at Asda to buy flowers. Of course that didn’t happen. Reece kept talking about the lady who died for about a month.

“Now he says ‘don’t get in the van with me. I’m bad luck’.”

Although he still has severe disabilities, he is walking unaided and has been skiing. He has taken part in and is organising a special rock climbing event. The movement in his arms is better thanks to use of a gym at his specially adapted home.