Charlotte Foster
Caring

Boy's tragic death in school crash sparks incredible community response

The 11-year-old boy who tragically died after a car crashed through his school's gate has been identified, with a family friend sharing more details about the horrific accident. 

Jack Davey was sitting with friends when a car slammed through a fence and into a group of Year 5 students at Auburn South Primary School on Tuesday afternoon.

He was critically injured and died on the way to hospital, while four other children were also injured. 

School mum and friend of the family Lucy Pristel told Yahoo News the shocking incident has "affected" the entire "close-knit" community.

“I have no words, to be honest with you. They are the most beautiful family. They would do anything for anyone,” she said. 

Lucy's own 11-year-old son, who is also a student at the school and played basketball with Jack, witnessed the tragedy unfold before his eyes.

"Unfortunately a lot of the kids saw what happened," she said. "It's affected everybody. The school has offered councillors to us all, so there's been a lot of support. We're a close-knit community." 

To help support the grieving family, Lucy, along with some of the other school mums, decided to launch a GoFundMe to help "ease the burden" of funeral costs, adding, "We just wanted to make life as easy as possible." 

In a matter of hours, the fundraiser has exceeded its goal, and at the time of writing over $140,000 has bee donated by the community.

Lucy recalled the moment she found out about the horror that unfolded at the school on Tuesday afternoon, saying she didn't realise the extent of what had happened at first. 

"I actually drove past the school after it happened and didn't think much of it," she admitted. "Then I started hearing about it."

"I ran down to the school... you could see parents for at least 300, 400 metres and I saw everyone hugging. That's when I knew something happened at our school [and not one of the others close by]."

Ever since then, "everyone has just bound together," she said sharing the "pure horror" felt by everyone.

Image credits: Facebook

Tags:
caring, Melbourne, crash, Jack Davey