Sarah Oldham

A FATHER has paid tribute to his "incredibly popular" teenage daughter who died after a car crash on
the border of Fenland last week.

Sarah Oldham died in Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge last Wednesday night.

She turned 17 on New Year's Eve.

Her father Mike attributes the date of her birthday to her love of partying.

He said: "She was an incredibly popular girl who made a big impact on everyone's life. She lived
every minute to the full."

Sarah suffered head and internal injuries after the car she was travelling in hit an electricity
pylon and ended upside down in a ditch at about 8.20pm last Monday.

The single-vehicle collision happened on the A142 at Mepal, about half a mile from the Mepal Outdoor
Centre.

Sarah was a passenger in the green Citreon Saxo and the driver, a 17-year-old male, was taken with
her to Addenbrooke's Hospital and later released.

More than 200 people attended a vigil for Sarah last Wednesday.

Father Mark Amey of Sutton Church opened his doors to Sarah's friends so they could quietly remember
her.

Sarah was taking AS levels in art, leisure, PE and human biology and she worked part-time at Costa
Coffee, in Ely.

Sarah had been due to come to her home from her job when the crash happened.

The car was found by Huntingdon and Sutton firefighters on its roof in a ditch. Paramedics
resuscitated her at the scene before taking her to hospital.

Mr Oldham, himself a medical professional working for Cambridge Community Care, and a former
radiologist at the Princess of Wales Hospital, thanked the emergency services for the way they
treated his only daughter.

"She couldn't have been in better hands, everyone was brilliant from start to finish," he said.

Sarah had worked as a waitress at Chequers pub in Sutton, where regulars remembered her helpful,
smiling manner.

At the scene of the crash, friends had left floral tributes.

"There was not a bad thing about you. You will always look and be beautiful," wrote her friend
Jeremy.

Sarah's family say they did not know the boy who she was with.

Her mother, Sue, spoke of her closeness to the rest of the family from their semi-detached home in
The Row, where Sarah grew up.

Sarah leaves her parents and an older brother, Matthew, student at Bath University.

A date for the funeral has yet to be confirmed, but Matthew said the family would like donations
sent to the Intensive Care Unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital.

Donations can be made online at www.act4addenbrookes.org.uk and select "In Memory of Sarah Oldham"
on the drop down menu.