Family of teenager who died after being hit by car want Akers Way bridge back
Harry Parker’s grandmother has organised a fundraiser for the campaign
The family of a Swindon teenager who died after he was hit by a car on his way to school is calling for a pedestrian bridge on the road where he was killed to be reinstalled.
14-year-old Harry Parker was crossing Akers Way on the 25th of November 2022 when a driver without a valid license hit him.
Akers Way is a busy B-road in North Swindon which separates a residential area from Noa Hreod Academy – the school Harry Parker went to.
Ann Parker-Griffiths, Harry’s grandmother, said: “I wouldn’t want to wish this upon anyone and I just hope that everyone passes on to their children that life is so, so short and important and it’s such a fine line.
“You know, Harry was just going to school. He wasn’t being stupid, he wasn’t on his phone”.
The Akers Way bridge was built to connect the two Nova Hreod sites which were located on opposing sides of the road, but it was taken down in 2008 after the school moved to just one of the sites.
To raise money for the bridge and other projects that the family’s Harry’s Get Home Safely campaign is currently working on, she has set up a fundraiser.
As she says the whole family has always been creative, Ann has organised an art exhibition.
“We’ve been raising funds for Harry’s Get Home Safely campaign for the last couple of years. It’s my 70th birthday this year, so I decided rather than having cards and everything, I wanted to have a small event where I could actually have funds raised for Harry’s campaign.
“Harry would have liked this. His dad always used to get his boys together when they were younger, even if it was just to glue some leaves on a paper to look like a hedgehog. So, we’ve always had that ‘Let’s have go and see if we can make that’ attitude.
“I took Harry and three more of my grandsons to a wand-carving course a few years ago. I don’t know how my heart is still beating because four young boys with sharp knives in their hands was terrifying. But Harry absolutely adored it, he really really enjoyed it and he was so proud of this piece of wood he carved that he brought home”.
Ann also says that while everyone knows Harry loved football, she is hoping to raise awareness for their campaign with a different kind of audience who perhaps might not be as interested in sports.
“Football was his main love, but he loved to do those sorts of things”.
Swindon Borough Council has been contacted for comment on the bridge.