A MOTHER whose only hope of surviving cancer was crushed by a drink-driver will be remembered during a special walk.

Julie Jones' children will commemorate their mum's life by walking for 10 miles along the River Thames, raising money for the hospice that cared for her.

Lucy Aston will be joined by sister Jennah Brain and brother Carl Aston for the sponsored walk for Sobell House, where Miss Jones died in November.

The 49-year-old was the victim of a head-on car crash last May near her home in Wheatley, which shattered her pelvis and left her unable to attend the crucial chemotherapy she needed to battle bowel cancer.

Greater Leys resident Miss Aston, 26, said: "The chemo had been working and was making the cancer shrink, but she wasn't allowed to carry on with it after the accident stopped it.

"She was devastated when the accident happened - it was life-threatening, we didn't know if she would survive. That driver was the reason mum died."

In October Arjunan Preetham, of Bertie Place in Oxford, was sentenced to 18 months in jail for drink-driving and causing serious injury.

Oxford Crown Court heard how the 25-year-old was almost three times the alcohol limit as he smashed into Miss Jones' car while trying to overtake a car on Ladder Hill.

The judge noted at the time she had become a 'prisoner in her own home' and would have to 'face the inevitable' fate of her cancer, which eventually caused a brain tumour.

Miss Aston said the family was 'disgusted' the sentence was not longer, but took comfort in the care her mum received in the final weeks of her life at the Headington hospice.

Miss Aston, who runs a pet care business, added: "This walk is a way to say thank you. They do such an amazing job. From the day she went they kept her comfortable and made a personal relationship with her.

"She was known as the 'lively mad one'; she was quite a character and always had the nurses in there talking to her. They have a really heartfelt approach and don't make you feel like you're just a patient."

Keen gardener Miss Jones worked for 25 years as a cleaner in the maternity ward of the John Radcliffe hospital, and looked after people's pets in her spare time.

She was diagnosed with cancer in September 2015 and had been on her way to collect medication when Mr Preetham crashed into her.

One of her favourite spots was Iffley Lock, where her children will pass during the walk on July 15.

They will follow the tow path from Abingdon bridge all the way to Oxford railway station, joined by friends wearing Sobell t-shirts.

To donate visit justgiving.com/fundraising/lucy-aston1.