A FUNDRAISING page set up in memory of the three teenagers who died in a fatal car crash near Shipston has now banked over £100,000.
The GoFundMe page was set up by friends of Harry Purcell, Matilda Seccombe and Frank Wormald who died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash on the B4035 Campden Road, near to Portobello Crossroads last week.
A fourth teenager who had been in the vehicle, Edward Spencer, remains in a serious but stable condition.
All four were sixth formers at Chipping Campden School and were travelling home when the crash happened – their car, a Ford Fiesta, colliding with a Fiat 500 carrying a woman and two children. All three occupants of the Fiat sustained serious injuries but are stable in hospital.
Four air ambulances attended the scene – two of which were from the Midland Air Ambulance Service.
Their friend Alex Adams, 17 and an ex-student at Chipping Campden School, set up the fundraising page on Monday (April 24) pledging to raise £25,000 for Midland Air Ambulance.
To that end, Alex announced he would be running the Oxford Half Marathon on October 15 with school friends Gracie and Taylor and called for donations to enable Midlands Air Ambulance to keep saving lives.
Just hours after the fundraising page was set up, donations exceeded the £25,000 target and now stand at an incredible £107,462 and counting.
Alex added: “Us three teenagers will do everything we can to help this service save as many lives as possible so close communities like ours don’t have to suffer with loss. We hope you can join us in helping out this amazing service.”
The crash left two school communities in mourning – Chipping Campden School and also Alcester Grammar School which Matilda attended up until last year.
Floral tributes to the teenagers were left at the flagpole in the Chipping Campden School grounds.
A letter written by principal John Sanderson after the tragedy read: “As a community we continue to hurt deeply, as the tragedy of this weekend’s events begin to sink in.
“There are no words that I can find to express the sense of loss that we feel, both as a community and for Harry’s, Tilly’s, and Frank’s families and close friends.
“Each one of these young people has been part of our extended school family and each loss is felt profoundly.
“In time, I would like to try and find the words to pay tribute to each of the young people we have lost, as each was remarkable and unique, having touched the lives of so many in such profound ways.”
Specialist officers from Warwickshire Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit are currently carrying out a detailed investigation to piece together the circumstances of the collision.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Warwickshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 248 of 21 April 2023.
To donate visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-harry-frank-and-tilly?utm_campaign
