FAMILY and friends of a Rugby man who died in a tragic accident while doing charity work in Australia have said an emotional goodbye.
Jamie Dumbleton, 26, was killed in Adelaide last month after the car he was a passenger in collided with a road train. The driver, a 24-year-old woman, survived and was charged with causing death by dangerous driving. Two other passengers also survived.
Mum Angie, dad Dave, siblings Danny and Stacey, niece Neveah and friend Gavin said: “We love and miss you more than words can ever say.”
And Angie said the family had suffered a nightmare being stuck on the other side of the world waiting for his body to arrive home.
She said: “We saw a photo of the horrific wreckage on an Australian news website. How any of them survived, I don’t know.
“I had spoken to Jamie the day before he was killed and he was so happy with his life and loved being a charity fundraiser. He had raised 175,000 Australian dollars in the short time he had been there.
“We were so proud of him. Jamie had everything to live for, and to have two policemen at your door is a family’s worst nightmare.”
Jamie went to Bilton High School and studied bricklaying at Rugby College, and then worked at Bilton Design and Build before he got what Angie described as ‘the travel bug’ and headed out to India and Thailand.
After a brief return to Rugby where he revived his love of boxing, he moved to Australia in early 2015 and after three months working on a farm, he got a job with cancer research charity The Fundraising People where he was made a Team Leader in February this year.
His grieving family say they were ‘overwhelmed’ by the huge turnout for Jamie’s funeral last Thursday (June 23) at St Matthew’s and St Oswald’s Church in New Bilton.
Angie said: “We would like to thank all Jamie’s friends and relatives for their wonderful support at this tragic time.
“The moving tributes from Jamie’s friends were amazing and heart tugging – they were very brave to stand up and speak.
“If anyone should wish to donate to one of Jamie’s charities, please feel free to do so – cancer research would be one obvious choice.”
She added Jamie’s brother Danny had set up a Justgiving page for ‘Save the Elephants’, of which Jamie was a great supporter having witnessed first hand how they were treated on his travels.
