Heartbroken parents pay tribute to ‘caring & bubbly’ daughter, 21, killed in horror car crash
8 December 2022, 22:52
The parents of a young woman killed in a crash when a van drove in the wrong direction on a motorway have said they are ‘devastated’ and ‘struggling’.
Grace Payne, 21, died after a van drove the wrong way up the A13 in Dagenham and crashed into a car in which she was the passenger.
Police had tried to stop the driver before chasing him down the motorway at around 2.35am on November 25.
Grace was tragically pronounced dead at the scene, meanwhile the driver of the van, a 39-year-old man, was taken to hospital where he remains in a serious condition.
He had been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop for police. He remains in police custody in hospital.
Grace’s family have now released a tribute to the ‘caring’ and ‘bubbly’ 21-year-old who had been coming home from a regular Thursday night out with work colleagues when the fatal horror crash happened.
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They said: “Grace’s death has left us, along with the rest of her family and friends, devastated. We are struggling to come to terms with the fact that our daughter will never be coming home.
“How can we describe Grace? She made us proud in so many ways. She was caring, compassionate, bright, funny, bubbly – her friends always said that she had the ability to brighten up their day. When she walked out of a room, she left everyone feeling happier than when she had walked in. She always wanted to help, always wanted to make people happy.
“She loved Children, and although happily working in HR, she said her long-term goal was to retrain when she reached 30 and become a primary school teacher. When she helped her Dad and brother, Jack, coach in the juniors at Brentwood Cricket Club, she was usually entrusted with the youngest age groups, supplying cuddles whenever necessary.
“Grace graduated from the University of Kent this year with a degree in history and philosophy. She spent much of the summer travelling around Europe with university friends – trips to Italy, Greece, Sicily, Barcelona and Amsterdam. There were family holidays to Devon and Wales. She passed her driving test, celebrated her 21st birthday and started work with an architects firm in London which she instantly loved. It had been a very happy, exciting, busy year. She was a 21-year-old starting to live life to the full after the confinements of Covid.
“If Grace was out with a group of friends, it was always said she was the one looking after everyone else, making sure they would get home safely. Last week, she joined work colleagues on their regular Thursday night out. Tragically, she never made it home.”
