Mum of Hastings boy, 11, who died in collision near Bexhill, doing fire walk for You Raise Me Up charity

Maria Dennis, whose son Harry died due to injuries sustained in the incident in December 2022, wants to raise money for the charity, You Raise Me Up, based in Polegate and which supports families after the death of a child aged 16 to 25.

She said: “Anyone who knows Harry knows how much he would love something like this, so I knew it was something I had to do when I saw the sponsored fire walk advertised.

“You Raise Me Up have been a lifeline to us, they were there within days of this tragedy and they will continue to support us for as long as we need their support. No family should ever, ever be going through what we are going through, but sadly it happens all to often. By donating even £1, it will be going towards a lifeline to those families whose whole world has been shattered into a million pieces and plunged into darkness.”

She was planning to do the fire walk last year but the event had to be cancelled by the charity. It is hoping it can run the challenge in the near future.

Maria has set up a fundraising page online and raised more than £400 so far.

Harry, who attended The Hastings Academy, died as a result of the injuries he suffered in the collision in Hooe in December 2022.

Officers were called to the the scene on the B2095 at about 3.05pm on December 15 following a collision between a car and a flatbed van.

The ambulance service attended and Harry was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

He died as a result of his injuries two days later, police said.

In November, Russell Le Beau, a 34-year-old scaffolder from Alexandra Road, Eastbourne, was sentenced to four years in prison, and was disqualified from driving for seven years, police said.

Police said the scaffolding board from his vehicle struck the windscreen of the car Harry was travelling in and ‘caused serious injuries' to him.

In September, Harry was posthumously honoured at an award ceremony, where he and other organ donors received the Order of St John Award for Organ Donation.

Harry helped five people, donating his kidneys, pancreas and liver which was split to help more than one person.

At the time, his mum Maria said: “Harry was a whirlwind, just absolutely full of life. He loved his sports and being outside, he had so many friends, he was the joker. If he made you laugh it made his day.

“He loved football, Manchester United, and he played for Hastings Athletic. He made lots of friends through football and was a real social butterfly, always talking to people when we were out and about.

“He had just started secondary school and had settled well, he took kids under his wing and was really kind and caring.

“Harry has left a big hole, it seems so quiet and empty with him missing, which is what is so hard. He had such an impact on so many people.”

Maria’s fundraising page is at www.youraisemeup.enthuse.com/pf/maria-dennis.

Anyone interested in doing the fire walk the charity is organising can email [email protected].