A Burnham-On-Sea couple who lost their son in a car accident exactly two years ago have this week returned to the spot where he died.
Joe Montgomery, Nathan’s dad, and mum Sally Edwards returned to the Long Ashton road junction near Bristol where their son Nathan, 17, was killed in November 2007.
Sally told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “It has been a very emotional weekend with the second anniversary of losing Nathan.”
“We went to the crash site again and planted spring bulbs, put up photos and took flowers.”
Donna Budd, the mother of Nathan’s girlfriend, Jess, met the couple there and also left a plant on behalf of Jess, who is now studying at an American university on a tennis scholarship.
Sally added: “Losing a child is something that never gets easier, but if we can maintain and develop the tennis academy set up in Nathan’s memory it will be a great legacy for our wonderful son and the sport he loved.”
She said she was pleased to see four new warning signs on Longford Lane approaching the junction and a number of yellow lines introduced across the road plus the word ‘slow’ in three places.
“While there, we also met the groundsman from the adjacent Long Ashton Golf course who said the junction has been recognised locally as an accident blackspot for 13 years. He has attended many minor accidents there as a first aider.”
He also kindly told the couple he would look after the corner where the bulbs have been planted.
Fundraising boost for Tennis Academy
Thousands of pounds have been raised for the Nathan Edwards Tennis Academy since the 2007 tragedy and several talented tennis stars of the future have been coming out of the group during recent months.
A further fundraising event was held in Burnham-On-Sea’s Railway Hotel at the weekend to mark the anniversary and help raise more funding for the academy. It started with a short set from Tim Dean & Scouse John.
They were followed by Busy Backgrounds, a teenage pop/rock band led by Jordan Hills (the son of Ginger Hitlas’ Andy), who produced their first public performance.
The Ginger Hitlas took to the stage later in the evening with all their usual flamboyance and whipped the audience up into a state of frenzied dancing and singing, with Andy, Curly and Dale joining them on the dance floor at times. They also used Nathan’s drumkit in his memory.
All the bands gave their services free so all the proceeds from the event went to the Tennis Academy. Ticket sales raised over £700 and Danny Pearce, manager of the Railway, kindly also gave £300 while a raffle raised a further £80.
