By Alan Irving

Last updated 17:12, Wednesday, 23 April 2008

FRIENDS released 21 balloons into the sunshine of St Nicholas’ gardens on Tuesday – one for each year of the life of Claire Edwards.

She was one of the five victims of the horrific two-car collision on the A595 at Moota. After fighting five days for her life, Claire became the fourth member of one family to die from her injuries.

Many of her friends gathered in St Nicholas’ Gardens for the poignant tribute to the memory of the 21-year-old, who worked for the Cumberland Building Society.

Earlier they had all attended a packed St Mary’s Church in Cleator where the funeral service for Claire and the four other members of the same family took place.

Also killed in the crash were Claire’s cousin, Kathryn Graham, 22, of Penzance Street, Moor Row; Kathryn’s mother, Patricia Graham, 52, of Trumpet Road, Cleator; and her aunt, Mary Kennedy, 53, of Crossings Close, Cleator Moor. The family were on their way home from Newcastle after seeing the Dancing on Ice show.

Claire lived at Lowca with her three-year-old daughter, Ellie. Among her friends who gathered in St Nicholas’ Gardens was her boyfriend, Luke Telford, who lives at Corkickle Station.

Luke told The Whitehaven News: “I had been with Claire for 14 or 15 months, the best year of my life. She was a beautiful person and a wonderful girl – I loved her.”

One of Claire’s former classmates at St Benedict’s School said: “She was just the loveliest person you could ever met, always smiling and she was the one who held us all together at school. She was such a caring person in the world who looked after us all. Claire has left a beautiful little girl and that part of her is going to live on.

“It was a lovely nice service in the church and the priest said some very nice things, although it was very upsetting.”

St John’s Church Hensingham, was also filled later in the day for the funeral of Andrew Pattinson, 23, who lived on Jericho Road and was the driver of the other car involved in the tragedy.

•  Read the online tributes to Claire