THE family of a 23-year-old man who died instantly after a head-on collision involving a diabetic driver says their lives have been devastated.

Aironas Gzimaila was killed when his Ford Fiesta was struck by a car driven by Thomas Treadwell which had swerved on to the wrong side of the A120 between Ramsey and Parkeston.

Ipswich Crown Court heard Treadwell’s blood sugar levels had fallen perilously low in the build-up to the incident, causing him to experience a hypoglycemic episode.

During Friday’s hearing, the court heard how people experiencing this kind of episode have an experience similar to drunkenness, and symptoms include confusion, difficulty in talking, sweating and blurred vision.

Read more: Diabetic who 'mismanaged condition' had hypo and killed driver in A120 crash

Treadwell, 32, who admitted causing death by careless driving, had his licence revoked previously in 2010 and 2016 due to “mismanagement” of his type I diabetes.

In a heartbreaking impact statement, Mr Gzimaila’s sister, Amanda, told the court how when her brother died instantly at 8.45pm on March 27, 2018, her family was devastated forever.

She said: “Every girl needs their older brother to guide them through life; he was my best friend.

“I still have sleepless nights thinking about what we could’ve done in all the years since his death. He cries to me in my dreams saying this [his death] is not what he would’ve wanted.

“How can such a pure soul be taken in such a heartless way? Everything happens for a reason, but there is no reason behind this.

“Our dreams have turned to nightmares and our family has been changed forever. You have left my mother without a son and his sister without a brother. You have devastated our family.”

Amanda also paid tribute to her mother, whose impact statement said her son’s death led to her losing faith in God.

Mrs Gzimaila wrote: “Losing a child is the darkest, loneliest, hardest journey. I have become an empty shell of a person who I don’t know anymore.”

James Thacker, mitigating, said Treadwell was “genuinely remorseful” and, since the incident, had installed an inbuilt blood sugar monitor.

Treadwell, of Langdon Hills, Basildon, is due to be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court tomorrow.