Lewis brought joy to all who knew him

The mother of a teenager killed in a car crash said he brought joy to everyone who knew him.

Dozens of floral tributes have been laid at the roadside where 18-year-old Lewis Harrison Hopewell, from Newark, lost his life.

Hundreds of Facebook messages have been left by friends and family of the former Magnus Academy and Newark College student, with many paying tribute to his humour, warmth and generosity.

The college has announced that Parents’ Day — an event led by Lewis in which students could showcase their achievements to their families — would be held annually in his memory.

His mother, support worker Nichola Hopewell, said: “The kindness that other people have shown shows how much Lewis was loved. He was a loveable person.

“He was sensitive, confident and full of life. He brought joy to everyone who knew him.

“He spoilt people and was very generous. Not long ago he said he wanted to take me on holiday, abroad, and that he would pay for it.

“He wanted to get me a new phone, and pay for me to go to the hairdresser.

“Whenever we ended a phone call, or when he would be leaving, he would always say ‘I love you’.

“I called him on the night he died and he told me that.

“It seems like the whole of Newark knew him and when he was friends with people, he was friends with their whole family.

“If he went out with his friends they would all end up at our house. He was spontaneous like that.”

Lewis died after the blue Seat Ibiza he was driving left the road and crashed into a grass verge near the Brough rest area on the southbound A46 at around 12.30am last Wednesday.

Another motorist, Jenny Townhill, stopped at the roadside and attempted to talk to Lewis.

Nichola said Jenny had visited the family and continued to message them every day.

“I call her Lewis’s guardian angel and hug her every time I see her,” she said.

Having studied for his Level 3 diploma in business at Newark College, Lewis had just started the next step of his career at Lincoln College.

He won a place on a business course validated by the University of Hull, having turned down the offer to study business and performing arts at Falmouth University, Cornwall, because he wanted to remain close to home.

A letter to the family from Mr Mark Locking, Lincoln College Group’s managing director (education and training) includes a warm tribute from Lewis’s personal tutor at Newark College.

It read: “Lewis was a force of nature in the classroom and in life.

“He was an extremely creative thinker, bursting with imaginative ‘out-of-the-box’ ideas. An absolute joy in the classroom.

“Lewis was a very respectful, polite and caring young man, with a genuine heart, who went out of his way to make sure the people around him were happy.

“I am very proud to have known him.”