Friends of Greenwich student killed in Essex crash bid to raise £25,000 for funeral

Friends of a Greenwich University student killed in a crash as he drove to lectures are hoping to raise £25,000 to send his body to Sierra Leone and pay for the funeral ceremony.

Foday Richard Koroma, 23, of Basildon, was killed when his Peugeot was sandwiched between two lorries on the A13 in Grays, Essex, on February 2.

His friend Muma Kaba, who has set up a fundraising website page, said: “Richie was full of life, ambitious and had great aspiration of a future he never had the opportunity to meet.

“He leaves behind his single mum, who is going through immeasurable pain trying to cope with the tragic loss of her only child.”

Mr Koroma’s mother Phylicia Sheriff, 51, a critical care nurse at North Middlesex Hospital, said: “He was my life. He was my joy. My happiness, my glory, my everything.”

She said her son was 11 months old when his father Foday Anthony Koroma, a major general in the Sierra Leone army, was killed in the civil war. She wants to bury her son in a ceremony with all his father’s family.

Mr Koroma, a regular churchgoer at Greater Grace Temple in Barking, was studying for a public health degree.

Dr Vincent La Placa, programme leader at Greenwich University, said he was popular with fellow students and would be sadly missed. To donate, visit the fundraising page.

A man, 44, from Tipton in the West Midlands, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.