Star Comment: Courage in the face of adversity

It is impossible to understate the shock or anguish that the wider community felt when she was snatched by Mark Bridger.

He had viewed explicit images of children being sexually abused hours before he abducted her from a quiet street. The revulsion at his crime remains. The entire community involved itself in the search for April. It shared the pain of her parents, Paul and Coral Jones.

They say time heals everything. But that is not true. Time will never heal the hurt or devastation that Bridger brought to the Jones family. Their story has been told in a remarkable and poignant memoir, simply called April. It will help raise money for other missing people. Coral and April Jones have been interviewed to coincide with the publication. And they have revealed the daily torment that they endure.

Coral has been blamed for the disappearance and murder of her daughter by a writer of hate mail, who branded her a bad mother. Tellingly, the insensitive and thoughtless person who sent it was too gutless to include their name or address.

Each day, Coral blames herself for her daughter's death. She has suffered from agoraphobia and feels uncomfortable leaving her own home. Time may have moved on, but Coral, Paul and their family will forever be pinned to that tragic day in October 2012. It may well define their lives.

They do not, however, want to be perceived as victims. They have campaigned against the dangers of online pornography and joined forces with Gerry and Kate McCann to highlight the nationwide Child Rescue Alert with the charity Missing People.

Paul has gone further. He has advanced the view that paedophiles who seek help before they commit an offence "deserve a chance". The creation of such an infrastructure might help to avoid the desperate measures that people like Bridger take.

Paul's magnanimity, courage and insight are remarkable. The courage of his wife, Coral, is equally astounding. They are examples to others in society.

Tragedy visits a small number: the family of Georgia Williams and the family of April Jones being among them. Both have shown remarkable and astonishing resilience. Both have shown courage. Both have demonstrated a determination to create something good from harrowing and desperate times.