Family of boy, 7, killed in 'hit-and-run' shares funeral plans before Christmas

13 December 2023 , 08:27

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The grieving dad of seven-year-old William Brown has spoken of the family's plans for his funeral

The father of a "precious" seven-year-old boy tragically killed in an alleged hit-and-run crash has spoken of the family's plans for a moving community funeral just days before Christmas.

William Brown was fatally hit by a car as he ran to collect his football on Sandgate Esplanade in Folkestone last Wednesday. A 49-year-old from the Dymchurch area of Kent was arrested on Thursday and has since been bailed, police said.

The family are now seeking permission to have Will buried in a church cemetery just yards from his school which he used to walk through every day, and have started an online petition to give the "beautiful" young boy the "peace he deserves".

A GoFundMe page to raise money for the funeral service has already raised £18,917 of the £10,000 target, as people from the seaside community and beyond continue to rally around the grieving family.

The family have started a petition to give the 'beautiful' young boy the 'peace he deserves'

Once they have a date secured, the family are hoping the funeral will be a community event that will bring everyone together - just as little William would have wanted. His father, William Sr, told the Mirror: "Essentially, if we can go ahead with that, we're gonna be making the funeral a community get together event in the Bayle area, which is where the church is. And we're gonna be sharing Will's message of peace. As soon as we've got the date, we can start getting everyone involved. And we're open to everyone in the local community to come together."

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"For anyone with grief of their own, or they're going through struggles or needs someone to be around them when they get all the community together. We're going to get all the local businesses on board, in the local town, the council on board, everyone on board to have a public funeral. Because this would have been Will Brown's wish - all he loved was peace, unity and togetherness."

Will Sr said he wanted to spread his son's message of 'love, peace, unity and togetherness'

Making arrangements for the funeral has helped the family "find some focus" and help "create a legacy for William", he said - while ensuring they can also give a "massive thank you" to all the emergency workers and members of the public who helped his son as he lay on the road. Will Sr said: "I was at work, and I got the call that my son had been in an accident - I managed to get there for the 45 minutes in which they were trying to resuscitate him and just doing everything they could.

"There were so many members of ambulance crew and fire brigade. One of them put his jacket over me while I was holding my son. I knew that everyone's done as much as they could possibly do to to get our son back. But he looked peaceful throughout. He had peace on his face, and it's almost like he found peace."

Explaining the significance of the cemetery, where Will used to frequent, he added: "If you personally were to walk through that graveyard or where wherever you were, if he if he saw you he'd ask you 'How are you?' If he felt that you that you needed help, he would help you. And I think in today's world we're missing, We're we're we're missing that. People just walk by each other these days. You never know what the person sitting next to you is going through."

Anyone with information on the incident is being urged to contact Kent Police (PA)

The dad also spoke movingly of the hurt felt by the family over losing their boy just a few days before Christmas, describing the feeling as "savage", before adding: "His presents are underneath the tree, and you don't know how to deal with it. I've never really experienced grief, but all that's going through my head at the moment is that Will's OK. Will's in a much more peaceful place than where we are, where I am, and Will's fine. So I'm grieving that I've lost the most precious thing to me in the world."

A 49-year-old man was arrested in Dymchurch on December 7 on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by careless driving, failing to stop at the scene of the crash, and perverting the course of justice. He was later released on bail until March 6 as officers continued their investigations. Anyone with information is being urged to contact Kent Police using reference MM/DGC/130/23.

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas