I sent my husband’s ashes into space after he died in an avoidable highway accident – he always loved astronomy, it was breathtaking

A woman has revealed how she decided to release her husband’s ashes into space because of his love of astronomy.

Claire Mercer, from Rotherham, was widowed in 2019 after her husband Jason died aged 44 in an accident on a smart motorway near Sheffield.

The 44-year-old widow, who has since campaigned for the demolition of smart motorways in Britain, arranged for Jason’s ashes to be scattered 100,000 feet above the earth.

The service is offered by Aura Flights, which works with Nottingham-based funeral directors AW Lymn.

In conversation with the BBC NewsClaire fought back tears as she said: ‘The photo of Jason on the outside of the bus and the huge panoramic view you get. It literally took my breath away.”

Jason’s ashes were loaded into a capsule attached to a stratospheric balloon. They can then travel around the world several times before falling into raindrops and snowflakes.

Claire added: “My husband died in 2019, very suddenly in a car accident, leaving us with the ashes and me not knowing what to do with them.

“Jason was really into astronomy. He had a very large telescope […] and it just really seemed to hit home. It just made me so happy that I did it.”

Matthew Lymn Rose of AW Lymn. added: ‘The stratospheric winds will pick up the ash and for a few months they will be spread around the world and then they will be dispersed back to Earth with wind, rain or snow.’

Jason, 44, died on the M1 when he was hit by a lorry on a section of the road without a hard shoulder.

Passenger Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, died in the same incident and before that, at least two more people have been killed on the same road since 2018.

In 2021, Claire called for police to investigate Highways England after a coroner said her husband could have survived the crash on the M1 if there had been an emergency lane.

The widow, who has since campaigned for the demolition of smart motorways in Britain, arranged for Jason’s ashes to be scattered 100,000 feet above the earth.

Jason’s ashes were loaded into a capsule attached to a stratospheric balloon, after which they were released and allowed to travel around the world several times before falling into raindrops and snowflakes.

Pictured: Claire Mercer, 44, from Rotherham, fights back tears as she tells of the ‘breathtaking’ way her husband’s ashes are scattered

In 2021, Claire (left) called for police to investigate Highways England after a coroner said her husband (right) could have survived the crash on the M1 if there had been an emergency lane

She said she hoped the inquest would be a catalyst for an investigation into possible corporate manslaughter charges.

Claire said at the time: ‘After over a year and a half of campaigning, today I feel like someone has listened and has finally taken steps to tackle the use of these death traps.

‘Since Jason’s death, I have been determined to bring about change to ensure that more families do not have to experience the heartbreak of losing a loved one due to the completely senseless removal of emergency lanes on busy highways without adequate safety measures in place .’

In April 2023, the government announced that all new smart motorways would be scrapped due to a lack of motorist confidence and financial pressure.

Claire said she hoped the inquest would be a catalyst for an investigation into possible corporate manslaughter charges (pictured 2022)

Jason, 44, (pictured) died on the M1 when he was hit by a lorry on a stretch of road without a hard shoulder

Ministers had already halted the construction of new smart highways in January 2022, which convert the hard shoulder into an active traffic lane and apply variable speed limits.

It pledged not to continue the rollout until it had five years of safety data from existing programs.

Claire previously accused the government of ‘slowness’ after failing to act on a smart highways dossier her lawyers sent ministers containing ‘compelling evidence relating to safety concerns’, drawing parallels between the Post Office and Horizon scandal and the National Highways and the government’s approach to smart highways.

“It is significant that the government is the sole stakeholder in both the post office and the national highways,” she told the Telegraph.