'Long will you be missed': Family of pizza delivery boy, 18, who died in car crash left devastated
MUDGEERABA, GOLD COAST: A pizza delivery boy died in a horrific car crash while he was working during his shift at Domino's. Alex Edwards, 18, died after his Toyota Yaris crashed into a tree on Somerset Drive at 9.15 pm on Saturday, September 17, 2022. The other two passengers, both 17, who were present in the car along with Edwards, escaped with minor injuries but Edwards tragically died on the spot, just a few mins away from the Domino's store he worked at.
A Domino's spokesperson said that they were "deeply saddened" by Edwards' death. "Alex Edwards joined Domino's Mudgeeraba just over six months ago as a delivery driver and in that time earned the friendship and respect of his colleagues as a hard-working and valued member of our team," they said according to Daily Mail. "We will be providing support to our team members and the family and friends of all involved, including offering counseling services. Domino's will also provide the local police with all possible assistance with their investigation, and conduct a thorough internal investigation of our own."
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The spokesperson then added, "We would like to express our sincere condolences to Alex's family and friends and ask that their privacy is respected at this extremely difficult time."
When asked whether the company would focus more on its driver training, the spokesperson said, "Domino's has a comprehensive training and onboarding process, including on making safe deliveries, but we also recognize that training is only one form of the control measure. We have hundreds of team members out on the roads every single day making safe deliveries, and even one incident like this is one too many."
A woman who lived near the scene of the car crash told the Gold Coast Bulletin that she heard a woman whom she thought to be Edwards' mother, crying and screaming beside the wrecked car. "She was just yelling, 'No, no, no' over and over again," the woman said. "There was a loud whirring as the boy's foot was still on the accelerator. I ran inside and called the ambulance and the driver was still alive at that stage," she added.
Devastated parents of the 18-year-old were seen reading cards left a makeshift memorial at the site of the fatal crash on Monday morning. "We never expected anything like this to happen to our baby boy," Alex's father said. "Long will you be missed. You never failed to put smiles on all our faces," his sobbing mother said while reading a card.
Queensland Police are still investigating the crash.