A NORTH-EAST family has been left devastated by the sudden deaths of an entire generation of siblings.

Leslie Hedley, 55, died in a car accident with her sister, Jesdene Johnson, 58, while on holiday in Canada.

The incident happened less than a month after their older brother, Peter Callard, died of a heart attack on holiday in Thailand.

Mrs Hedley's daughter, Brooke, has now paid tribute to her mother and spoken about the devastation felt by the family.

Miss Hedley, of Villa Real, Consett, County Durham, said: "When I heard my mother and her sister had been killed in a car crash, I thought it was some kind of practical joke.

"I just could not absorb the enormity of it. My mother was my best friend and she was loved by all."

Miss Hedley said her mother was still sorting out the estate of her brother when she went to visit her sister in Vancouver.

She said: "My grandmother, Jane, is taking it particularly badly. You read of these things happening to other people and never expect it to happen to you. It is a feeling of total disbelief.

"What makes it all the more difficult to bear is that my mother had just discovered a new zest for life."

Miss Hedley said her uncle, who was in his sixties, had heart problems, but his death still came as a shock.

Mr Callard, of Cowgate, Newcastle, was with his girlfriend of three years when he died.

Miss Hedley said her mother and sister were on their way to meet someone when they crashed on the freeway on Sunday, September 12.

She said: "They swerved and hit another car. The people in the other car were alright. There is no explanation as to how the accident happened."

Miss Hedley said her mother, of Surtees Place, Blackhill, Consett, was known by everyone to be full of life.

She said: "My mother was well-loved in the community. She had gone through the men's equivalent of a mid-life crisis and decided she wanted to make a radical change to her life.

"She changed her appearance over the past five years, dying her hair, and became totally youthful again.

"She enjoyed life to the fullest extent and went out socialising a lot more with friends, which she never used to. It is all the more tragic that she had a renewed zest for life."

Her mother was devoted to Brooke, her own mother, and her work at a call centre for GNER.

Miss Hedley's fiancee, Stephen McDonald, who has been supporting her through the ordeal, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the response from the community and would like to thank everyone for the many flowers and cards we received."

Miss Hedley said her mother and her sister, who was married to Canadian marine biologist Tom Johnston, were cremated following a funeral service in Vancouver.

She said: "We were unable to make the service but we will be travelling over to pay our respects."