The children of a woman killed in a road collision have said what should have been a happy family holiday turned into a "living nightmare".
60-year old Lynn Anderson died on 19 June 2016, after the vehicle in which she was a passenger was involved in a collision with a car driven by an American doctor.
Cedric Simpson, a 52-year-old Emergency Department surgeon from Portland, Oregon, was given a two-year suspended jail term at Cork Circuit Criminal Court and banned from driving in Ireland for five years after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Ms Anderson.
Garda Paul Cogan said the fatal collision occurred on the skew bridge on the Lower Glanmire Road which is flagged as a hazard with extensive warning signs and road markings.
Dr Simpson was driving from Cork city to east Cork where he was doing a course at the Ballymaloe cookery school.
He admitted to taking his eye off the road momentarily to take a biro from the floor of the car.
Ms Anderson was in Cork for a family reunion with her adult children and to meet her first grandchild, Kian, who had travelled from New Zealand for the occasion.
Mrs Anderson was a rear seat passenger beside her grandson in a rental car.
Dr Simpson's car went over the central white line causing a collision. She was killed in the accident one day after meeting her grandson for the first time.
Dr Simpson has been a doctor for 30 years, the last 15 years of that as a specialist in emergency medicine.
He wept as he spoke from the witness box.
"I would like to apologise. I have not been on this side of trauma before. We take an oath to do no harm. A simple lapse caused this death. It has been difficult," Dr Simpson said through tears.
Tom Creed, defence senior counsel, said that, other than that moment of inattention which made it dangerous driving, there was no other aggravating factor.
Mr Creed said that, remarkably, the three other people in the car with the deceased were not injured.
Garda Cogan said Dr Simpson had his leg broken in the crash but he performed CPR on the late Ms Anderson at the side of the road.
The judge noted from the pathology report that a double impact in the collision damaged an artery and this proved fatal.
Judge Sean Ó Donnabháin said it was a fatal injury irrespective of the medical care she received at the side of the road.
Victim impact statements were read by Garda Cogan on behalf of the deceased's three children.
Her daughter Chloe said: "Our baby turning one should have been an exciting milestone spent with all of the family but instead we ended up in a living nightmare.
"To go from laughing and singing to then watching our mum being given CPR on the side of the road and die in front of us is the most traumatic event I have ever experienced and the images of that afternoon will stay with me forever.
"I feel so angry and helpless that our mum's life was stolen, but I also know she was such a kind-hearted person and would have no ill-feelings towards Cedric."
Her son Bill said: "What was supposed to be a happy family holiday instead became a week of talking to doctors and police and arranging our mother's funeral.
"I can still remember the feeling of packing up mum's suitcase and finding the presents and birthday card that she never got the chance to give Kian for his birthday.
"He only got to spend one day with his grandmother, and now he will grow up never knowing her at all."
Her other son Luke said: "It feels like the last chapter of mum's life has been stolen. She was so much looking forward to being a grandmother.
"She was going to be moving from the UK back to New Zealand and had even started looking for houses. It is so wonderful she got to meet her first grandchild but so unfair she only got to spend one day with him and then died beside him."
