Pictured: Three school friends aged 17 and 16 who in two-car crash in Warwickshire

25 April 2023, 13:47 | Updated: 25 April 2023, 13:53

Three sixth form friends who died in a horror crash in Warwickshire on the way home from school have been pictured for the first time.

Sixth-form pupils Harry Purcell, 17, and 16-year-olds Matilda Seccombe and Frank Wormald were airlifted to hospital following the crash, which left a fourth critically injured.

Harry and Matilda died in hospital on Saturday and Frank died on Sunday.

Emergency services rushed to the scene of the collision, between the students' car and another vehicle, on the B4035 near Shipston at about 4.10pm on Friday (April 21).

Edward Spencer, 17, is in a stable condition after undergoing surgery.

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The students' Ford Fiesta collided with a Fiat 500 containing a woman and two children, who all suffered serious injuries but are in a stable condition in hospital.

The teenager's heartbroken friends Alex Adams and Gracie Edmunds have set up a fundraiser to raise money for Midland Air Ambulance service.

Writing on the GoFundMe page, Alex wrote: "On April 21, three close friends and school mates sadly passed away and another [was] critically injured after a devastating car crash on their way back from school.

"A total of four air ambulances attended the scene, two of which [were] from the Midland Air Ambulance service. In aid of this, fellow close friends and school mates, Gracie, Taylor and myself are running the Oxford Half Marathon on October 15 to raise money for this amazing service, and help them in saving lives in and around our community in the future.

"Us three teenagers will do everything we can to help this service save as many lives as possible so close communities like ours don’t have to suffer with loss. We hope you can join us in helping out this amazing service."

It has already far exceeded its goal of £25,000, with over £48,000 raised so far.

The students were sixth-formers at Chipping Campden School.

In a letter to parents, Principal John Sanderson said: "There are no words that I can find to express the sense of loss that we feel, both as a community and for Harry's, Tilly's, and Frank's families and close friends.

"Each one of these young people has been part of our extended school family and each loss is felt profoundly.

"In time, I would like to try and find the words to pay tribute to each of the young people we have lost, as each was remarkable and unique, having touched the lives of so many in such profound ways.

Addressing Edward, he said: "We continue to hope and pray that he will make good progress in recovering from his injuries over the coming weeks and months. Edward and his family are very much in our thoughts.

"I'm very conscious that we will need to take each day at a time but wanted to express my sincere thanks for the professional and personal help and advice that has been offered to us at school over the last 48 hours.

"This is a very difficult time for us all but there is strength and hope in knowing we walk it together."