Harvey Owen’s blue checked pyjama trousers have been at the end of his mum’s bed since the day he died.
The kind-hearted 17-year-old lived in them at home – where he spent time playing the guitar with his little sisters and listening to the Beatles.
Harvey’s mum Crystal told the Mirror: “He loved his pyjama bottoms and wore them with a black vest, often flexing his newly formed muscles in the mirror which would make us all laugh.
“They haven’t been washed so the scent of him still lingers in the fabric – it’s painful because I can still smell him and yet have to accept I will never see him again.”
Crystal’s world shattered when Harvey and three pals died on a camping trip when their car swerved into a water-filled ditch in rural North Wales on November 19 last year. An inquest last month confirmed all four boys drowned on impact.
But it also emerged Harvey, sitting in the back of the silver Ford Fiesta, had managed to wind down his window and unplug his seat belt – a fact, Crystal says, that will haunt her forever.
She added: “It was my absolute fear throughout all this – I hoped he wasn’t conscious, but he was.
“I wonder, with every part of me, what he was thinking at the end – was he scared? Was he in pain? Did he think of me, his mum, as children often do when they’re in trouble or hurt? I will always live with that. Part of me literally died when Harvey died – I’m in a constant state of yearning to see and hold him again.
“It is an ache that feels like my heart is physically breaking – from the moment I wake up to the moment I close my eyes at night, I feel his absence in every fibre of my being.”
In an emotional interview to mark the anniversary on Tuesday, Crystal also reveals her last message from Harvey, and tells how she knew something terrible had happened when her response was left unread.
Crystal, 40, also details her campaign to protect young drivers and plans for a charity to ensure Harvey’s “pure and kind soul” lives on. Harvey’s pyjama bottoms are particularly precious to Crystal because they remind her of his last night at home in Shrewsbury, Shrops.
She said: “He’d been trying to bulk himself up at the gym so I’d gone and bought him a load of protein yogurts.
“He came into the kitchen in his pyjamas, put his arm around me and said: “Thanks mum, it is appreciated.”
“I can still feel his curly hair on my face and the strong arms that embraced me – I remember thinking, where has my little boy gone?”
Crystal had no idea this would be one of her last moments with her son, who dreamt of opening his own Italian bakery. Less than 48 hours later, he and college friends Hugo Morris, 18, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Jevon Hirst, 16, were dead.
The boys lay undiscovered for two days, sparking a full-blown search and rescue operation that dominated news bulletins.
Crystal said the terror of not being able to get hold of them was “indescribable.”
She added: “The police had told us not to go to Snowdonia to join the search – they said they needed us at home, near the phone.
“On the first night, I followed that advice, but after that I couldn’t. Me and my partner Pete headed to Snowdonia at around 6am – I was hysterical, were running up to random walkers, saying “have you seen our boy?,” showing them photos.”
Recalling the moment she learned they had perished, Crystal received a call from an officer asking them to drive to the police station.
She said: “They called to say a vehicle had been found – but gave no further information. The shock was like I was out of my body and it was all happening to somebody else – it felt like everything was in slow motion.
“We were taken into a room and given the news – my hands went grey and white and it felt like they were being stabbed with metal pins.
“Everything was echoey – Pete says I was delirious and constantly screaming “It can’t be him – not my boy.”
Crystal knew the boys were staying at a friend’s grandad’s house – and she’d seen a video message which reassured her they would be safe. She had no idea her son had planned to go camping – nor did she know his pal Hugo, who had passed his test just six months earlier, was driving. The fact she didn’t check who was driving with the other parents before allowing Harvey to go, plagues her.
She said: “Hugo was a new friend from college, I didn’t know he even existed and had no clue Harvey had any friends who could drive.
“I was told they were staying with a friend’s granddad for two nights and the friend’s dad would be driving.
“I’ll always kick myself – because it’s the one time I haven’t called around to make sure – but he hadn’t given me any reason to doubt his story and I didn’t want to embarrass him.”
Crystal says the final message from Harvey plays on a loop in her mind – because the crash happened just an hour later.
“He sent a photo of the view from the grandad’s house so his story seemed to add up – but my reply – a funny video of his baby sister – was never opened. I tried ringing and kept texting asking him to ring me but nothing was sending. I kept thinking, Harvey would know I’d be worrying – so in my gut I knew it was bad.”
The senior coroner last month said the tragedy had been preventable and said a lack of driver experience was a major factor.
The inquest heard Hugo likely lost control when he approached a bend “a little bit too quickly and understeered.”
Amid the tears of that day, there was relief that the coroner spoke out, because Crystal has been trying to do so for months, campaigning for a change in the law.
She wants to see the introduction of so-called graduated licences – where new drivers are restricted both in the speed they can drive at and in the number of passengers they can carry.
Countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and some US states have already adopted the system – and it has led to a 40 per cent reduction in deaths.
Crystal met with transport secretary Louise Haigh last week and then received a letter from Keir Starmer assuring her ministers would look into young driver risk, especially on rural roads.
She said: “I’m feeling optimistic about the new government and their help so far but I don’t want it to just be empty promises. While it may not be popular, prioritising public health should come above everything – it is important this is not made into a political issue.
“At 17 and 18 they are still kids – they can have hundreds of lessons, but as soon as they’re plonked in a car with their mates it’s a different story. They’re not allowed to buy alcohol at 17 yet they can be in charge of a lethal weapon – it’s madness.”
Crystal has also launched a charity – Shine On With Harvey Owen – to fund music and other creative lessons for disadvantaged children.
She added: “Harvey always valued everything he had, such as music lessons and being able to afford them. He was so grateful for everything, so the charity sums him up as a person. Everything I ever worked for was for my children – and when they are gone you wonder what the point in anything is anymore – you question what the meaning of life is.
“For me now, the meaning of life has got to be leaving the world a better place than you came into it – because that’s what Harvey did.”
To support the campaign visit https://www.change.org/p/safer-driving-licensing
For details on the charity visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Harvey-HelpingOthers
