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Pupils offered support as families pay tribute to schoolgirl and bus driver killed in M53 crash
The pupils from the schools are being offered mental health support to come to terms with the incident
The families of a schoolgirl and coach driver who were killed after their school bus crashed on Friday have paid tribute to their loved ones .
Children who were also on the bus that was involved in the accident, which happened about 8am on the M53 in Wirral on September 29th, are being offered support, a headteacher said.
Jessica Baker, 15, and driver Stephen Shrimpton, 40, died when the coach hit a reservation between J5 for New Chester Road to J4 for Brimstage Road.
The coach had been carrying more than 50 students from Cheshire to West Kirby Grammar School and Calday Grange Grammar School.
It was part of a convoy of school buses carrying other children, who witnessed the incident. The road was closed in both directions as all emergency services attended the scene, including air ambulance.
Four passengers were taken to hospital for treatment, including a 14-year-old boy who suffered life changing injuries. All patients remain in a stable condition.
Stephen Gray, head teacher at Calday Grange Grammar School, told BBC Breakfast that today would be a ‘difficult day’ for all pupils and teachers travelling to school.
He said there would be specialist mental health support from the NHS and police in place at the schools all week to help pupils and staff come to terms with what has happened.
In a tribute, Jessica’s family described her as ‘warm-hearted and wonderful’ and said she was a ‘devoted sister and loyal friend’.
They said she was a keen rock-climber and ‘her untimely death has led to a massive void in our lives that will never be filled’.
Mr Shrimpton’s family described him as a ‘loving husband and father’, and said he was a ‘caring and thoughtful man who would always prioritise others over himself’.
In a fundraiser for Mr Shrimpton’s funeral, his sister-in-law said the father-of-two had suffered a medical issue while driving, leaving behind his wife and children aged eight and four.
Police said post-mortem examinations were due to take place to establish the cause of both their deaths.