FAMILY and friends turned out in numbers on Friday (January 29) for the funeral of Rachael Ward  – the 20-year-old Tillicoultry woman tragically killed in a car accident last month, writes Henry Ainslie.

 

On a crisp and sunny winter morning, mourners packed into Tillicoultry Parish Church for the service, before Rachael’s pink casket was carried to the town’s cemetery where she was buried.

In recent weeks, relatives have paid tribute to the former Alva Academy pupil – an only child – who they described as a “special”.
 

while others sent flowers and letters of sympathy for their “fun-loving” friend.

 

Parents Janice and Richard said: “Rachael was a special granddaughter, niece, cousin, workmate and friend to so many and a much loved girlfriend to Sandy.

 

“We are all missing her so much.”

 

Rachael died after a three-way collision on the A908 between Benview and Devonside, near Alloa, on Saturday, January 16.

 

She had been driving alone at around 6.30pm when a Vauxhall Astra driven by 27-year-old Tillicoultry man Brian Redfern ploughed into her Citroen Saxo. Redfern and his passenger, 17-year-old Stacey Ross, were rushed to hospital.

 

The driver of the third vehicle, 20-year-old Coalsnaughton man Craig Lawson, escaped unscathed but he and Redfern have been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

 

Rachael is the fourth person to be killed on Clackmannan-shire’s roads in past three months.

 

In November, Dollar teenager Gant Dowie – a highly promising golfer and also a former Alva Academy pupil – died in a head-on collision near his home.  And just days later, Alloa woman Lisa Temprell, also known as Elizabeth Cummings,  and

dad-of-three James Maitland were killed in a motorbike accident on the A977 near Forrest Mill.

 

On Monday afternoon (February 1), the A908 between Tillicoultry and Fishcross was closed once again as police accident investigation teams continued to search the crash site for evidence.