'No parent should bury a child': Fundraiser created to give Denmead teen the 'send off he deserves' after tragic Corhampton crash
A fundraiser has been created to give a ‘genuinely lovely’ 16-year-old the ‘send off he deserves’, after he and his friend tragically died in a horror crash.
Last week, the police confirmed tha the driver, Damien Dean, from Denmead, and passenger, 17-year-old Mason Renhard, from Eastleigh, both died at the scene, after a grey Hyundai i20 crashed into a tree on Corhampton Lane, near Meonstoke, in the early hours of July 13.
Damien’s family previously paid tribute to their ‘beautiful boy’ who was ‘taken too soon’, and a close family friend, Louise Mcclelland, who knew the teen since birth, has now created a fundraiser to give him ‘the send off he deserves.’
The GoFundMe Page, which has almost hit £2,000, says: “The heart break that his family are suffering right now really cannot be put into words.
“Damien is loved by so many and his cheeky ways definitely made every who knows him, love him. Damien is one of six siblings and truly has left such a massive hole, his parents are devastated after losing their eldest son.”
The fundraiser was created on July 15 with Louise saying the ‘response has been amazing and the family have been so overwhelmed.’
The Havant woman said: “The family are devastated, absolutely devastated, and not only are they dealing with the losing their son, they are dealing with what happened to Mason as well, and the backlash online - there is so much more to the story.
“No one should prepare to bury a child, and I just wanted to take some of the pressure off the family and give them the send off Damien deserves.
“He was like a nephew to me - I knew him since he was a baby and was there the first time he crawled.
“Damien was a lovely boy, he had a gardening business where he would go and help people with their garden - he was genuinely a lovely boy.”
Louise said the family have started planning Damien’s funeral but it has been an ‘eye-opener because you don’t realise what it all entails.’
A fundraiser has also been created for Mason which has surpassed the £5,000 mark with the GoFundMe saying: “We are blown away and in absolute shock that so many people loved Mason so much and want to contribute to his funeral.”
If you have any information, please call 101 quoting reference 44250311184. Alternatively, you can report information on the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s website - click here for more.