Family’s tribute to tragic cyclist
Gareth Crockett
THE family of a Moira man killed during a cross-channel charity running and cycling challenge yesterday paid tribute to his dedication and courage.
Gareth Crockett, 27, was hit by a car on Anglesey shortly after 10am on Wednesday as he began to cycle through Wales on his way to Bristol.
Along with friends, he had been due to compete in this weekend’s London marathon, which was the final leg of the charity challenge in memory of his friend and neighbour John Erwin, who died from leukaemia last year.
His sister Emma said Gareth had been delighted with the response to his epic fundraising effort.
But donations have continued to come in after his death - and the total had soared past the £11,000 mark by yesterday afternoon.
“He had been so delighted with all the donations to the challenge and raising awareness of leukaemia in memory of John,” she told the News Letter last night.
“We are all trying to get through this, but it has been great to see all the messages of support which have been left online for him and we know that he achieved what he set out to do, even though he didn’t get to finish the challenge,” said Emma.
She added: “We will never forget his intelligence, his dry wit and his great sense of humour.”
Gareth and Jez Davison, another friend of Mr Erwin, had been aiming to raise money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research through their extreme challenge of four marathons, with 450 miles of cycling in between.
The pair, who were joined by friend Neil Drew, had already completed marathons in Moira and Dublin before leaving the island of Ireland to begin their final stages of the journey.
On Wednesday morning the group were joined by two other friends to start the first of two days of cycling to Bristol.
The tragic road traffic collision happened a short distance outside Holyhead on the A55 carriageway to Bangor, North Wales.
It is understood that one of the group also sustained knee and ankle injuries in the accident.
Gareth, formerly of Wallace High School, Lisburn, attended both Oxford University and Bristol University.
The principal of Wallace High School, Deborah O’Hare, said the whole school family was “devastated” by the news.
“Gareth left Wallace in 2002 with top grades in his A Levels. He continued his education at Oxford University and then Bristol, where he graduated with a degree in geography. He has been working in London for a few years,” Mrs O’Hare said.
“Gareth was a highly intelligent student who contributed much to the life of the school. His older sister Emma and younger brother Jonathan are also former pupils.
“He was always full of life and planning his next project. He was a keen cyclist and had already cycled across America.
“The thoughts of the Wallace community are with his family at this time.
“His former school friends are also distraught and finding it difficult to come to terms with Gareth’s sudden death. He will be greatly missed by one and all.”
Gareth had been living in London after taking up a post with a leading management consultancy agency in 2009.
Colleagues have been leaving comments on Gareth’s justgiving website, saying they were thinking of his family “at this sad time” as they made donations.
A police spokesman said: “The deceased man was among a group of five cyclists understood to be on a sponsored charity bike ride. The driver has been bailed pending further inquiries.”
A Wales Ambulance spokesman said: “We were called at 10.13am. Paramedics declared one patient deceased at scene.”
Gareth is survived by his parents William and Bessena, brother Jonathan and sisters Emma and Alison.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
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