THE PARENTS of one of the young men who died in a car crash on the A30 have paid tribute to the emergency services who fought to save him.
Nathan Percival, 26, who spent much of his early life in west Cornwall, died after a Citroën Saxo driven by his friend Lee Harrington was involved in a collision with a lorry at Cockwells.
The accident was on August 18, but Nathan was only identified at Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, on Monday. Mr Harrington had been officially identified three days before, although the families had been told their loved ones were in the car, which was destroyed by the fierce blaze after colliding with a lorry at about 10pm.
Flames were said to reach 30ft high, but the lorry driver escaped with minor cuts and bruises.
"We want to thank the emergency services because we know that dealing with this crash was quite harrowing," said Nathan's mother, Jackie Peake.
"Police said it was one of the worst scenes they had seen in 20 years. The car was still burning the next morning. We really appreciate the efforts everyone made.
"The family liaison officer, Karen Prattley, has also helped us a lot and we would like to thank her. Another officer, Jason Mullard, also came to see us and he gave me full and honest answers to the questions I asked him."
Nathan, who went to Launceston College, was the youngest child of Mrs Peake and stepson of David Peake, who live at Lanstephan. His father Kevin lives in St Ives and he has three siblings – Tregarran, 30; Camilla, 29; and Barretta, 27.
After attending Launceston College, Nathan studied motor vehicle mechanics at Plymouth and Camborne.
He had worked at Duchy Foods, Launceston, and as a chef when his parents ran the Angarrack Inn, near Hayle, for five years.
"He met Lee playing basketball when we were at the Angarrack Inn, and spent some of his time in Launceston and some of his time in Penzance. They were both hoping to move to Yorkshire to get jobs," said Mrs Peake.
"Nathan was just a happy-go-lucky lad, quiet and caring. He liked watching magic programmes on TV, especially Paul McKenna. Football, fitness and astronomy were his interests, and he loved his cat, Grub."
