Rob Smith at Heol-y-Cyw RFC
A Glamorgan rugby club is taking on the Three Peaks Challenge for the charity that tried to save one of their teammates, following a road traffic collision near Usk.
Heol-y-Cyw RFC is appealing for donations in memory of Robert Smith from Bridgend, who tragically died when his vehicle collided with an HGV on the A449 last September. He died two days before his 21st birthday.
This weekend (6th June) the team will be climbing the three highest peaks in the UK in 24 hours, in aid of helicopter charity Wales Air Ambulance, who attended the incident.
Robert’s mother Catherine Smith said: “Rob could never understand people who didn’t take full advantage of opportunities in life, and was always helping others. One night he came home covered in hay after helping a local farmer who was panicking about getting his hay in before it rained – he was that kind of person.
“Robert was also bright. He achieved 17 GCSEs and had dreams of becoming a civil engineer. He had just bought a car and was saving for a deposit on a house.”
Dedicated to his rugby team at Heol-y-Cyw, the family were overjoyed when Robert played at the Millennium Stadium for the final of the SWALEC Plate. “The whole family went to watch Robert that day and the team won by one point,” said Catherine. “Boy, how he smiled and we’re cheered and cried with pride!”
“On 19th September, we held Robert’s funeral and the boys from the rugby club escorted Robert to the crematorium. Around 650 people turned up, so the road outside had to be closed and most stood outside listening. If that’s not proof of how much my son was respected and loved, I don’t know what is.”
Gareth Howells from Heol-y-Cyw RFC, who will be taking part in the challenge, said: “The players and coaching staff thought very highly of Rob’s talents and he had a promising future with the club. He was a true gentleman and we miss him greatly.
“Due to Wales Air Ambulance’s involvement at the scene of Rob’s accident, we decided to raise money for them. We hope to raise an amount worthy of a great man.”
Gareth will be joined by teammates Craig Beasant, Kyle Lowry, Neil Collins, Andrew Ward, Andrew Jones, Dean Jones, Michael Collins, Owain Lloyd, Paul Songhurst, Paul Songhurst Senior, Greg Wintermute and Aled Jones.
The Three Peaks Challenge is a bid to climb, descend and travel between Snowden, Scaffell Pike and Ben Nevis all within just 24 hours.
The team is appealing for donations to help reach their £1000 target. To make a donation visit their JustGiving page justgiving.com/Gareth-Howells3 or call Wales Air Ambulance on 0844 85 84 999.
Wales Air Ambulance relies entirely on donations to raise over £6 million each year for its three helicopters based in the mid, north and south of Wales. The aircrews can reach anywhere in the country within 20 minutes.
For more information, visit walesairambulance.com and follow the air ambulance on Twitter @air_ambulance or facebook.com/walesairambulance.
