24/08/2026
As a wife of an emergency service worker this hits home.
These two men should never be forgotten
โค๏ธ๐ฅบโค๏ธ๐ฅบ
Two police officers left home for work that night. By morning, two families were waiting for men who would never walk through the door again.
PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, put on their uniforms and went out to serve their community.
It was meant to be another shift.
Another night.
Another journey home.
But at 3.39am on the A66 near Middlesbrough, everything changed.
Their marked police vehicle was struck head-on by a car travelling the wrong way along the carriageway.
Matthew and Tom never came home.
Two police officers were gone in an instant.
And somewhere, two families were left facing the unimaginable reality that the men they loved had left for work... for the very last time.
Matthew was only 37.
But to his wife, he was so much more than a police officer.
He was her beloved husband. Her best friend. And to two young boys, he was Dad.
He loved football and had recently become a coach. He was looking forward to coaching young players, including his own son.
He should have been standing on the touchline.
He should have been cheering him on.
He should have been there for all the moments still to come.
Instead, his wife was left trying to find words for a loss no words could ever explain.
She called him her superhero.
And perhaps the most heartbreaking words of all were these:
โForever loved. Forever missed. Forever our superhero. Our Matt and Dad.โ
One day, Matthew's two boys will understand that their father died while doing the job he believed in, protecting and serving others with courage, dedication and selflessness.
But that will never fill the empty chair at home.
It will never replace the sound of his voice.
And it will never give his wife and children back the man they should have had for a lifetime.
Then there was Tom.
Before he became a police officer, he had already served his country as a soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He had known what it meant to put himself in harm's way.
And when his military service ended, his life of service did not.
He became a police officer.
His family remembered him as a man with a fantastic sense of humour, someone who would jump into action whenever needed and who was willing to help anyone for any reason.
To them, โhe was our hero.โ
A soldier.
A police officer.
A friend.
A man who spent his life answering the call to serve.
And now, his family and his partner are left with the unbearable silence that follows when someone you love should be coming home... but never does.
That is what makes this tragedy so heartbreaking.
Matthew and Tom did not leave home knowing they were saying goodbye.
Their loved ones did not know that the last time they saw them would be the last time.
There was no final embrace.
No final conversation.
No chance to say, โI love you one more time.โ
Just a normal shift.
And then, suddenly, two lives were gone.
PC Matthew Blades, 37.
PC Tom Clough, 38.
You were not just two names in a devastating headline.
Matthew was a husband, a father, a coach and a superhero to his family.
Tom was a soldier, a police officer and a hero to those who loved him.
You both left home to serve.
You both should have come home.
Forever loved. Forever missed. Never forgotten. ๐ฌ๐ง
