The grief-stricken mother of one of four teenage friends killed during a Welsh camping trip said his final message to her will ‘play in a loop’ in her mind forever.
Crystal Owen’s son Harvey, 17, from Shrewsbury, was found alongside his friends Jevon Hirst, 16, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Hugo Morris, 18, in their crashed silver Ford Fiesta near Snowdonia National Park in November.
The boys’ silver hatchback is thought to have veered off the A4085 in wet and windy conditions in Garreg before overturning.
They were reported missing to police and their bodies were found inside the vehicle which was partially submerged in water.
Ms Owen, 40, said she hasn’t washed Harvey’s pyjamas since he died and they stay at the bottom of her bed. She said ‘the scent of him still lingers in the fabric’.
She knew the youngsters were staying friend’s grandfather’s house but she had no idea they planned to go camping nor that Hugo, who had passed his test just six months earlier, was driving.
Her final message from Harvey was a photo of the view from the grandfather’s house which reassured her that he was where he said he was.
But the fact she didn’t call to make sure because she didn’t want to ’embarrass’ him will haunt her forever.
She replied to the picture with a video of his baby sister – a video which was never opened. They crashed in Garreg, Gwynedd, just an hour later.
Crystal Owen, grief-stricken mother of one of four teenage friends killed during a Welsh camping trip said his final message to her will ‘play in a loop’ in her mind forever
Crystal Owen’s son Harvey, 17, from Shrewsbury, was found in a crashed car with his friends
Harvey Owen from Bicton, Shropshire, loved to play guitar
She told The Mirror: ‘I tried ringing and kept texting asking him to ring me but nothing was sending. I kept thinking, Harvey would know I’d be worrying – so in my gut I knew it was bad.’
A senior coroner said the tragedy had been preventable and a lack of driver experience was a factor. Hugo likely lost control when he approached a bend too quickly and oversteered.
The mother believes Harvey as his friends would still be alive if the driver was more experienced and wants stricter rules for young drivers.
The cupcake business owner wants people aged under 25 to be banned from carrying passengers for a year after they’ve passed their test and for them to be restricted from driving between midnight and 6am.
The fear of not being able to get a hold of Harvey was ‘indescribable’, she said, as the boys lay undiscovered for two days.
When Ms Owen heard the tragic news, she was ‘delirious and constantly screaming ‘It can’t be him – not my boy’,’ she said.
Thinking about the last time she hugged him, the mother said: ‘I can still feel his curly hair on my face and the strong arms that embraced me – I remember thinking, where has my little boy gone?’
She wonders if he thought of her in his last moments, ‘as children often do when they’re in trouble or hurt’, as she said: ‘I will always live with that.’
Mrs Owen published this picture of Harvey in a Facebook post alongside a link to her petition calling for tougher rules on young drivers
Teenager friends (clockwise from top left) Harvey Owen, Wilf Fitchett, Hugo Morris and Jevon Hirst were last seen getting into a silver Ford Fiesta car
The disappearance of the four boys, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, sparked a huge search and an outpouring of grief when they were found; a fundraiser set up to support their families raised over £32,655, smashing a humble target of £4,000.
They were reported missing on Monday, November 20 after failing to return home from the trip. They may have lain undiscovered for up to two days after leaving Harlech at around 11am on November 19, a Sunday, en route to Snowdonia.
The boys – who were all pupils at Shrewsbury College – left their homes on Saturday, November 18, and stayed overnight with Jevon’s grandfather, in the seaside town of Harlech 80 miles away, that evening.
They set off for Snowdonia the following morning, intending to spend the Sunday night camping. Their last contact with family is said to have been around the town of Porthmadog, eight miles north, at midday.
They were travelling on the ‘narrow and windy’ A4085 during what local residents described as ‘atrocious’ weather conditions with heavy rain and the car appears to have careered off the carriageway close to a bend in an area with almost no mobile phone signal.
Described as ‘sensitive and intelligent lads’, the four teenagers were inexperienced campers and had only a tent and sleeping bags.
‘The plan seems to have been for them to camp in Snowdonia on Sunday evening, but it looks like they never made it to a campsite,’ said a source close to the investigation.
Harvey, 17, (pictured) from Shrewsbury, was among the four teenagers found dead in a submerged Ford Fiesta after going missing while on a camping trip near Snowdonia
Sixth form student Harvey , 17, (left) pictured with his family including mother Crystal, a cupcake shop owner (right). His grief-stricken mother said her eyes are raw from crying
A major search operation was launched on the Monday involving a Coastguard helicopter and three teams from Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team, who were dispatched to search car parks at the foot of Snowdon for the Fiesta in case the boys had decided to go hiking.
Post-mortem examinations found all four teenagers, from Shrewsbury, were unhurt by the collision but, trapped upside down in water 1.2 metres deep, died of drowning soon after the accident at 11.40am on November 19 last year.
Concluding the inquest in Caernarfon, Coroner Kate Robertson gave a conclusion of death by road traffic collision – but she went on to highlight the risks posed by young drivers giving lifts to friends.
Ms Robertson said: ‘I do have a concern that deaths will occur and continue into the future where young or newly-qualified drivers are permitted to carry passengers.
‘I will be issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the Department for Transport.’
Ms Robertson said she could not make recommendations about what changes should be made but will give them 56 days to respond.
Speaking afterwards, Harvey’s mother said: ‘I am very happy with the outcome, however the government needs to act on this. These deaths are preventable.’
Ms Owen, who is also the mother of three daughters, added: ‘It will give me assurance my girls will be at less risk and save other people from having to live with this pain.’
Since the tragedy, she has devoted herself to campaigning on road safety, saying her son – a part-time pizza chef who had ‘the biggest smile and contagious positive energy’ – was ‘let down by an outdated driving licence system’.
Police cordon off the road in North Wales as they investigate what caused their deaths
Police are pictured on the A4085 where the silver Fiesta belonging to the teenagers was found
Ms Owen added: ‘I was not able to protect my son and, as a mother, that’s a most painful thing to deal with.
‘Almost 5,000 people each year are affected by death or serious injury as a result of young drivers. If this was knife crime, there would be an outcry.’
In a tribute, Hugo’s family said he was ‘a giver of warmth, joy and mirth.’
They added: ‘He rarely criticised others and loved he could sense people’s emotions and connect with these. He had fallen in love with North Wales. His mum helped him pack the car.
‘He was happy and looking forward to the weekend. The world is shattered, bent and crooked now.’
Melanie Hirst, mother of 16-year-old Jevon, said: ‘Jevon liked to socialise with his friends. He was a very loving son. He loved the outdoors and going walking. He was very close to his grandfather and loved to visit him in Harlech.’
Harvey’s family said: ‘Harvey was charismatic and carefree. He had everything to live for. He was a trendsetter, unique and an old soul. He was wise beyond his years. He was a chef at a local pizzeria.’
And Wilf’s mother Heather Sanderson told the hearing in a statement: ‘The boys stayed in Harlech with Jevon’s grandad. He messaged me to say he had enjoyed a full English breakfast.
‘He was such good company with a sense of humour. We were blessed to have him in our lives for 17 years. We are proud to be his family.’
Mrs Sanderson told the coroner she would still have allowed her son to go to on the trip again.
She told the coroner: ‘As a family we are heartbroken at losing Wilf but we are also heartbroken about how difficult it has been for the other parents – particularly for the parents of the driver (Hugo Morris).
‘We gave Wilf permission to go because we believed that the driver had passed his driving test – which he had. We had done our research and we would make the same decision again.’