A woman who survived a horrific car wreck on a night out has paid tribute to her ‘beautiful’ best friends who were killed when their vehicle crashed into trees.
Sophie Russon, 20, was one of two friends who survived when the car crashed into woodland off the A48 in Cardiff last month.
Her ‘besties forever’, Eve Smith and Darcy Ross, were among the three who did not survive. She paid tribute to them over the weekend, saying: ‘Love you both so much.’
Sophie’s heartfelt social media post comes as her family slammed police for taking an ‘appalling’ 48 hours to find the wreckage and alleged that had officers ‘got there sooner’ more lives may have been saved.
Sophie Russon, 20, is posted a photo to Facebook with car crash victims Eve Smith, 20, and Darcy Ross, 21. She described the women as the ‘most beautiful girls’ and her ‘besties forever’
Sophie Russon posted a photo of herself with Eve and Darcy, two days ago and simply captioned it: ‘Love you both so much’
Sophie – who just left hospital for the first time 10 days ago to attend her the funeral of her lifelong friend Darcy – has publicly paid tribute to her friends for the first time.
She posted a photo of herself with Eve, 20, and Darcy, 21, two days ago and simply captioned it: ‘Love you both so much.’
The touching photo received dozens of comments from Sophie’s loved ones who issued their condolences and applauded the ‘special bond’ the women shared.
Sophie, replying to some of the well-wishers, described Eve and Darcy as her ‘besties forever,’ adding: ‘They were the most beautiful girls.’
The crash also killed driver Rafel Jeanne, 24, and left both Sophie and fellow passenger Shane Loughlin, 32, injured.
Anna Certowicz, Sophie’s mother, said her daughter was left ‘unrecognisable’ from her injuries, requiring life-saving surgery after bruising on her brain in the accident that killed three of her closest friends.
Sophie Russon, 20, was one of two who friends survived when the car crashed into woodland off the A48 in Cardiff the night of Friday, March 3
Driver Rafel Jeanne, 24, and passenger Shane Loughlin, 32
Anna, 42, who continues to nurse her daughter, has now hit out at what she called the ‘appalling’ way the police handled the case and criticised their treatment of victims’ families, who had sounded the alarm that they were missing.
She said of the police: ‘If they got there sooner, we don’t know, but maybe they could have survived.
‘The police did not do enough – it wasn’t until people started posting on social media that they paid us any attention,’ Anna told The Mirror. ‘They had calls from me, Sophie’s dad and all the other families, but they were very blasé and said they’re probably out partying.
Sophie Russon, 20, was sedated in hospital after going through life-saving surgery after suffering bruising on her brain in the crash
Anna Certowicz, 42, (pictured with her daughter Sophie Russon, right) said her daughter’s friends could maybe have survived the horror crash had police got there sooner
Darcy, Eve and driver Rafel were found dead at the scene of the crash near St Mellons, Cardiff.
Sophie and co-passenger Shane were left at the accident site for nearly two days after the car crashed on the way to a Newport nightclub on the evening of Friday, March 3.
The group were believed to have crashed into trees while driving from Cardiff back to Newport, where the women lived.
They veered off the A48 in the St Mellons area and were not found until early in the morning on Monday, March 6.
Earlier this month, Anna described the ‘miracle’ that her daughter had recovered so well.
Just a month after the March 6 crash she said Sophie was ‘awake, eating and talking’, according to her mother.
Sophie and Shane were left critically injured near the upturned car for 46 hours until police found the wreckage.
Mother-of-three Ms Certowicz was one of 200 people out searching for the five adults.
She revealed that her daughter was ‘conscious some of the time’ in the car after it ran off the A48 in Cardiff and had ‘called out but no one was close enough to hear her.’
Her daughter has been treated with Shane at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and has now been moved to a specialist rehab unit.
Anna previously said: ‘I feel terrible for the families of Eve and Darcy, they were all best friends and had known each other since they were small’.
She added the only people who knew what happened were her daughter and the other survivor Mr Loughlin, who only met the girls for the first time on Friday night.
She said her daughter was ‘cold, scared stiff, not able to reach her mobile phone’ while stuck near the ruined car.
Ms Certowicz said she first called police at noon the next day after her daughter did not return from the night out on the Friday.
Gwent Police reportedly told her not to worry and said that her daughter was probably still out partying.
Just after 11pm on the Sunday, the service put out their own public appeal.
Sophie was found on the Monday and rescued from near the VW Tiguan where the bodies of her dead friends had lain for 48 hours.
Ms Smith and Mr Jeane had died in the crash in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, and Sophie Russon, 20, met Rafel Jeanne, 24, and Shane Loughlin, 32, at a club in Newport
Floral tributes left near the scene in the St Mellons area of Cardiff where three people who disappeared on a night out died in a road traffic accident
Assistant Chief Constable Jason Davies, of South Wales Police, previously said: ‘Our thoughts are with the families of all those affected by this tragic incident.
‘Specialist officers are carrying out an investigation to piece together what has happened.
‘Family liaison officers are supporting the families involved at what must be a hugely difficult time for them.
‘To ensure independent oversight, South Wales Police has referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, as is usual in these circumstances.’
