Girl, 19, Killed In Car Crash Had Been Given All Clear From Cancer One Month Earlier

Girl, 19, Killed In Car Crash Had Been Given All Clear From Cancer One Month Earlier
Jade Best
Ross Parry
Jade Best

A teenage girl killed in a car crash had been given the all clear from cancer just a month before.

Passenger Jade Best, 19, died when the car she was in hit the side of a building while travelling at 115mph in a 30mph zone.

The driver, Adam Ruthven, 27, and front seat passenger Danny Hague, 32, were also killed. Just days before the accident in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Jade – who was a backseat passenger in the car - had celebrated her 19th birthday.

She had been given the all clear from cancer just a month before, after having chemotherapy treatment.

Jade's devastated parents said in a statement: "She had recently been given the all-clear following a cancer diagnosis and had so much life left to live.

"We are devastated by her death and that she has been taken from us in such tragic circumstances."

Post mortem tests showed that married dad-of-two Mr Ruthven and Mr Hague - a Lance Corporal who was on leave from serving in Iraq - were over the drink-drive limit, which may have contributed to Mr Ruthven's loss of control.

The coroner was told CCTV suggested keen car enthusiast Mr Ruthven was driving no less than 100mph and possibly 'in excess of 115mph'.

Coroner Tim Ratcliffe, recording verdicts of accidental death, said: "Mr Ruthven knew the area well and was well aware of the speed limit.

"His speed was excessive and frightening to those who had seen the car that evening."

He told the families: "You have lost loved ones at an early age, and for this I am very sorry."

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