He Was 13. He Wanted to Be a Neurosurgeon. | Lisa Hippsley on Losing Kaylan and the Fight for Justice

Content note: this episode contains discussion of the death of a child, road death, grief, PTSD and the criminal justice system.

Kaylan Hippsley was thirteen years old. He wanted to be a neurosurgeon. He played rugby and football. His mum Lisa had just passed her driving test and he told her she could teach him to drive someday.

In February 2024 Kaylan was walking home in Hirwaun in South Wales when a car driven by Harley Whiteman hit him. Whiteman was drunk and on cocaine. He fled the scene. He then returned and attempted to pull the student nurse who was trying to save Kaylan away from him.

Kaylan never regained consciousness. He died in hospital three days later.

His family fought all the way to the Royal Court of Justice in London. The sentence was increased to nine years with a minimum of six in a secure prison. They held that knowledge. They built what they could of a life around it.

Then they received a phone call. Harley Whiteman is already in an open prison. He could be released as early as 2028. Just four years after killing Kaylan. Before Kaylan would even have turned twenty.

In this conversation Lisa talks about who Kaylan was. About the last video she has of him coming down the stairs in flippers and a snorkel the night before he was killed. About the machines being switched off at the exact time Kaylan was born. About the guilt she carries. And about the fight she refuses to stop.

Kaylan would have been sixteen next month.

Sign the Justice for Kaylan petition: https://c.org/2zDfrxJMYm

Content note: this episode contains discussion of the death of a child, road death, grief, PTSD and the criminal justice system.

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