Tributes have been paid to Irish man Shane Stokes, who died in a road incident in southeast England two days before Christmas.
Mr Stokes (29), originally from Limerick, and a 60-year-old man from Oxfordshire died on Saturday after a multi-vehicle collision on the M40, west of London.
Another man was taken to hospital following the incident with serious leg injuries and three others were treated for minor injuries, according to Thames Valley Police.
It is understood Mr Stokes was due to fly home to Shannon Airport on Christmas Eve. It is also believed his girlfriend Ashley was in the car at the time of the incident and is in hospital.
British racing driver Rob Austin paid tribute on Christmas Day to Mr Stokes, who he said began working at the Rockingham racetrack in southeast England in 2013. Mr Austin wrote on his Facebook page that he wanted to honour “a very special member of our family whom we have just devastatingly lost”.
‘Our good luck charm’
“Shane Stokes joined us at Rockingham in 2013, an event that saw us win our first BTCC race, since then he has been our good luck charm and progressed to become a pivotal and much-loved member of our team and a true friend,” wrote Mr Austin.
“He was strong and supportive for us in the tough times, something I will never forget, and he was a larger-than-life character in the BTCC paddock who was loved by many. He was without question a special guy who had a heart of gold and will be deeply and sorely missed by our team and many others in the BTCC paddock.
“Our thoughts are with his partner Ashley, his brother Brian and his kind and loving family through this difficult time.”
Comments under Mr Austin’s Facebook post described Mr Stokes as “an absolute gentleman” , “an amazing person” and a “legend”.
The HMS racing team posted that Shane Stokes had come to the UK to “chase his dream” and described the young man as “a gentle giant”.
‘Key member of team’
“He worked for Rob for two and a half years before joining us in 2016 when Rob came on board as our driver. Shane was a key member of the team and fittingly helped Rob to Handy Motorsports’ first win in the final race of 2017,” wrote the post.
“He was a gentle giant and would help anyone, someone you could rely on and always gave 100 per cent.”
Fianna Fáil councillor for Limerick City East Joe Pond called for the local community to support the Stokes family during this difficult time.
"It's just such a tragedy, I cannot comprehend it. It's a parent's worst nightmare," he told the Limerick Leader. "Christmas is supposed to be a joyous time of year, and for something like this to happen, for two parents expecting their son home, is just awful."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said they were aware of Mr Stokes’s death and were providing consular assistance to the family.
