A heartbroken mother of a teenager killed in a devastating crash alongside three friends has shared her grief, saying she “aches to see her son’s beautiful face”. Harvey Owen was one of four friends who died when their Ford Fiesta veered off a rural road near Garreg, Gwynedd, overturned, and slid into a water-filled ditch.
Crystal Owen expressed her deep regret at not being there to protect her son before the tragedy on November 19, 2023. Following an inquest where the coroner ruled that all four teenagers died as a result of a road traffic collision which could have been “avoidable”, Mrs Owen advocated for a graduated driving licence system for young motorists.
Speaking after the Caernarfon hearing, Mrs Owen said: “I will ache to see his beautiful face, hear his soft gentle voice and feel his warm embrace for the rest of my life.”
The mother recounted her anxiety over her son’s skateboarding, snowboarding, and BMX biking antics, feeling relieved when he shifted his focus to hours of guitar practice and aspirations to sell homemade pizzas. “Now the joy has gone from our lives and there is a void that can never be filled,” she said, describing her son as perfect and expressing her “indescribable love” for him.
For 17 years, she loved her son “unconditionally”, reports North Wales Live. The mother added: “I watched him grow, held him, dried his tears and healed his scrapes. I tried to protect him in every way possible. His sisters Jasmine, Sophia, and Olivia miss him dearly.”
During the fatal crash, driver Hugo Oliver Morris, 18, and passengers Jevon Alexander Hirst, 16, and Wilfred John Fitchett, 17, also drowned. Mrs Owen said: “My son was able to get in the back of a car driven by a young, inexperienced driver and be driven on an unfamiliar, rural road without my knowledge. He was let down by an outdated driving licence system.”
She continued to advocate for a graduated driving licence system that would reduce peer pressure on teen drivers to take passengers and raise awareness of the risk to parents when educating their children. Mrs Owen highlighted that if the 5,000 deaths and injuries involving young drivers every year were due to knife crime, there would be an outcry.
She urged people to support the change.org petition for safer drivers aged 17, acknowledging that it wouldn’t bring a “victory” for her family. Harvey Owen’s tragic death alongside his friends has prompted a call for stricter rules around young drivers to prevent similar incidents in the future.