Just 3 years in jail for ending the life of a husband and a father.

There have been two days in Lana Hayes’ life that stand out from all the rest. Two days that she classifies as ‘the worst’.

The first was the 26th of November, 2012. That was the day Hayes’ husband and the father of her three kids was killed while driving his car in the NSW town of Pokolbin.

The second worst day was yesterday.

Yesterday was the day Nicole Young, the woman who was driving the car that veered onto the wrong side of the road and killed Hayes’ husband Ryan Hayes, was sentenced to jail.

Twenty-nine-year-old Young was on parole for robbery at the time of the accident. She’d had five hours sleep the night before the crash and had also consumed a “cocktail” of illicit and prescription drugs including marijuana and methamphetamine in the hours before.

Yesterday Young was sentenced to five years and nine months in jail with a non-parole period of three years and eight months, which was not enough according to Ryan’s widow.

In an interview with the Today Show’s Karl Stefanovic, Hayes expressed her sadness and shock at hearing the sentence.

“It was horrific. One of the worst days we’ve ever been through. Just as bad as the day,” she said.

“There are no words for it. Our life has just been turned upside down and there’s nothing there to help us. And we’ve now got to live with the pain of knowing that she’s going to be walking free.”

Video: Minimum sentence given for fatal crash

Lana said she had no words to describe the devastation and her three daughters were feeling.

“No amount of time would make us feel okay but we were told by solicitors – on the scale system – to expect four or five years with her criminal history going against her.”

“I was still, in my stomach, looking for more, it just had to be more. And to hear what happened yesterday… What are we meant to do with that? What does it give to my girls?”

According to the Newcastle Herald, Young wrote a letter to Mrs Hayes taking responsibility for Ryan’s death.

‘‘I take full responsibility for taking Mr Hayes’s life,’’ she wrote.

‘‘I know I deserve to be punished for what I’ve done.”

But in her interview with Stefanovic, Hayes said it did nothing to help the pain.

What do you think about the sentence? Do we need tougher laws for people on parole?