Family tell of talented graduate's 'love of life'

8:50am Thursday 20th November 2008

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THE family of a talented graduate who was killed while on safari in Africa have spoken of her love of life and her promising future.

Claire Spruce, 26, of Cam, died after a collision with a lorry while crossing a road in Malawi, where she was on a safari tour.

Her family has received hundreds of cards and emails of condolence from all over the world from Miss Spruce’s friends.

Her sister Sharon said: "Claire had so many friends from school, university and all over the world. She couldn’t go down to the shops without people stopping to say hello to her."

Her mother Colleen said: "It means a lot to us that so many people have left tributes for Claire.

"It makes me feel proud that she touched so many people’s lives. Amongst all the misery and pain it is nice to see so many people care."

The last time the family saw Miss Spruce was on September 27, when they waved her off at Heathrow Airport for the tour around Africa.

Sharon, 24, added: "Claire emailed us just before she died saying Malawi was the most amazing place she had been and she was really enjoying herself.

"I am glad she got to enjoy her life so much, she really made the most of it. She loved life and really lived it to the full."

Mrs Spruce, of Spark Hill, said the trip was her daughter’s treat to herself for finishing a doctorate in clinical psychology at Southampton University, where she was the youngest student ever to be accepted onto the course.

Miss Spruce, a grade eight pianist, had previously received a first class degree in psychology at Aston University, where she was top of her year, and had worked alongside top specialists at the Royal Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London.

Her father David said: "Claire was extremely focused. When she went to university she enjoyed all the parties and balls but her studies were everything to her because she knew where she was going.

"She definitely had a very promising career ahead of her. She was such a happy person, really active and full of life."

Miss Spruce, a former pupil at Cam Woodfield Primary School and a prefect at Rednock School, was enjoying a trip of a lifetime with tour company Absolute Africa when tragedy struck.

On November 7 the coach had stopped for a break and Miss Spruce and some friends crossed a road to buy some soft drinks. As she crossed back she was in collision with a lorry.

Friends on the safari tour held a service for Miss Spruce on November 10, which would have been her 27th birthday.

A funeral service will be held at St Bartholomew’s Church, in Cam, at 2pm on Wednesday, November 26. The family ask that donations are made, instead of flowers, to the Health Clinic and Soup Kitchen project in Durban, South Africa, a charity that Miss Spruce was involved in.

* A 24-year-old man who was driving the lorry has been arrested in connection with the incident.