Mum of April Jones reveals her heartbreaking struggle to cope

THE mum of April Jones has described the heartbreaking struggle she and her family face trying to cope with the loss of her daughter who was abducted and murdered in 2012.

Emotions for mum Coral Jones, 46, are currently running high with what would have been April's 11th birthday falling just days ago on April 4.

Coral told The Sun Online: “Every year’s hard. You don’t plan to have your child taken away from you.

"You’ve got to learn to live with it. I’ve had three children, I’ve only got two now and April 4 would have been her 11th birthday so she would have been going to high school in September."

While it is still tough going for her and raw the family do try to mark the event.

She said: “It’s affected me and affected me in a lot of ways.

"April’s birthday is hard every year. We try and do different things to keep us occupied and do things in memory of her.

"We often put flowers on the grave. We don't do a lot as you can't really celebrate."

Coral added: "All I did this year was watch films. I stayed at home with my son and watched films."

She also paid a touching tribute to her daughter in a moving Facebook post, writing: “April my baby girl. I love you so much and I miss you every day since you were taken from us.

"You will always be in my heart and you will always be with me wherever I go. One day we will be together again.

"Hope you have a lovely birthday in heaven. Love you so much and miss you like crazy.”

The post also shows a selection of pictures of April including one of her final Christmas with the family in 2011 wearing a blue party dress in front of a decorated tree.

Coral also said in her Facebook post she had suffered “six years of hell” since April was abducted outside her home in Machynlleth, Mid Wales.

She also referred to her husband Paul, 49, who had forgotten April’s murder after he was hit by a rare brain illness and hospitalised.

She added: “I’ve had six years of hell but the last two have been even worse with my husband Paul taken ill. We still don’t know if he will ever come back to me and our two kids.

“Paul was my rock, my soul mate. If it was not for my kids, my mum and two of my friends I would be lost.

"When you lose someone in a horrible way you have lots of people around you, but as time goes on one by one they all go back to their own lives and you are left on your own.

Coral is also continuing her fight for April's Law which would mean all child sex offenders remain on the register for life and search engines and service providers to be better regulated for child abuse images.

It would also include harsher sentences for anyone caught with indecent images of children.

Coral told The Sun Online: "We have been told by a lot of people we are doing well.

"Since we’ve been fighting for April’s Law, a few things have changed along the way but nothing in April’s name.

"When we went to Parliament we asked for all paedophiles and sex offenders to be put on the sex offenders register but we've been told its human rights – but some people have been put on it for life.

"So why can’t we go for it then? It doesn’t make sense.”
“We’re not talking about teenagers who do something underage but people who go out to attack children.”

Paedophile Mark Bridger was jailed for life in 2013 for April’s abduction and murder the previous year.

Although April’s body has never been recovered, cops found forensic evidence linking Bridger to the murder.