THE family of a "focused and loving" 18-year-old who died following a car crash has taken comfort from the fact that his death will save four people's lives.
As reported, popular Immingham lad James Wesley, of Lindum Avenue, passed away on Thursday after being seriously injured in an accident on Immingham Road, Habrough, on Tuesday night.
The day after saying goodbye to health-conscious James, his family took comfort in being told that his heart and liver have been promised to two people and his two kidneys will save the lives of another two patients.
"The whole family has been devastated but we got a lift when we found out that someone else would benefit – it makes it seem like it was for something," said his mother, Dawn.
"He was a loving person who would give anything to anyone, so we had a family discussion and decided that this is what he would have wanted."
James was waiting to take his driving test on December 4 when he took his mother's car and crashed on Tuesday with his 16-year-old girlfriend, who is still in hospital, but her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
His family said that they will never know why "sensible" James took Dawn's car out that day. The crash caused internal head injuries.
She said: "I just can't work out why he did it because he wasn't a daredevil – he barely drank, he has never been in trouble with the police and never had a fight at school.
"He had mentioned to me that he thought he was insured to drive it, which is the only thing I can think of, but it was just so out of character."
James, a former goalkeeper for Immingham Pilgrims, went out running twice a day, hated smoking and was careful with his diet – which is why his organs were so healthy.
Brother Alex, 20, said: "It was such a shock, not just because of his age but because he was so sensible and the healthiest person you could ever meet – the kind of person you would expect to live forever."
Dawn described the aspiring electrician as extremely focused. He was learning to drive so he could get a part-time job and because he would need a licence for his future career.
The family-orientated teenager had a tattoo on his arm which read "No matter how poor a man is, if he has family, he is rich".
Alex told how since he went away to university in Leeds, he noticed James had matured into "a wonderful person".
"You just knew he was going to be a family man with a good job and he had really matured from a boy into a man over the last few years," he added.
The former Oasis Academy Immingham student was popular at school and at Grimsby Institute, were he studied afterwards, and many of his friends visited him in hospital to say goodbye.
Dawn said: "He and his friends were so close and everyone who knew him just loved him.
"James was funny from when he was little and many of his friends came to see him in hospital before he passed away.
"We knew he would not recover 36 hours after the accident but, apart from a few cuts and bruises, he still looked like James so we had a chance to say goodbye to him."
The head of sixth form at Oasis Academy Immingham, Yvonne Lauer, said: "James was a lovely young man who never failed to make everyone smile.
"He embraced all challenges and he will be remembered by us all as a genuinely caring, charismatic member of our community. It goes without saying that all of our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this deeply sad time."
Principal Kevin Rowlands added that the academy will look at a fitting way to pay tribute to James.
