The family of a Chippenham man who died in a crash on the A420 have released a tribute.
Calum Leighton, 18, and two other men were killed when the vehicle they were travelling collided with a coach on the main route between Oxford and Swindon on Sunday morning (21 August).
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His family have since released the following tribute: “Calum loved life. And to Calum, life was his friends and his music. He always put the happiness and wellbeing of his friends first.
“He will be absolutely devastated about the impact this will have on all of his friends, but especially Lawrence and Joe. Our hearts go out to their families and everyone else affected by this terrible accident. The love shown around Chippenham by the friends of all three boys has been so touching.
“The one comfort for us at this time is that the last 24 hours of his life were the best ever. He was so happy at being able to launch his own label, Run Da Riddim, with its inaugural event last Saturday, along with his friends Olly Ley (Chunk), Callum Whiting (SEF) and Sam ‘MC’ Martin.
“It had been months in the planning and was deemed an outstanding success in every way. Everyone said how brilliant his set was and how happy he was to be sharing his love and cheeky smile with all his friends. His sole aim, as always, was to bring everyone together for a good time, and what better way than with music, the Language of the World.
“For many, Covid brought heartbreak. For others it provided plenty of family time and a chance to reflect. For Calum it provided the chance to discover his passion for music, particularly for drum and bass! Before the first week of lockdown had ended he had booked his first online music production course. He always found it hard to concentrate in class at school, but three hours of music production, not a problem!
“He already had a place to study music performance at BIMM in Bristol later that year, making the most of his beautiful singing voice. However, he soon realised that his passion was being a DJ and doing music production, and after completing his first year at BIMM, he moved to Access Creative College (formerly dBs).
“He was soon performing at events and clubs all over Bristol and Bath, becoming a regular at Revelations events and soon moving to the main stage. He was so chuffed to get a set at Lakota a few months ago, was performing monthly on digital radio at Goat Shed and had played at one of the first ever drum and bass events at The Fleece with The Dub Dealerz.
“During this time, he also started producing his own music. We heard bits and pieces (often woken in the middle of the night by the dulcet tones of a thumping bass line emanating from his bedroom!) but only realised this week just how many songs he had been working on and that only a week ago he had just finished one of his best creations to date.
“We are so lucky that we will have his music to remember him by and comforted in the knowledge that Chunk, SEF and MC Martin are going to finish and release all of his songs over the coming months for everyone to enjoy, and continue the Run Da Riddim story that has only just begun. We knew he was making progress in the drum and bass scene but never realised how good he had become in such a short space of time. You don’t realise what you have until it’s gone. And then it’s too late.
“We thank all of his many, many, many friends for their love and support.
“Our beautiful boy Calum, da brightest rock star in the sky will shine on in are hearts forever. Andy, Ursula & Darcey xxx.”
Calum’s sister, Darcey wrote: “Calum is the big brother I looked up to and always will. When we were young, I would always copy everything he did, even the little things, because my whole life I had the comfort of knowing Calum was always there for me and I wanted to be just like him.
“Even though he always teased me when we were young like older siblings do, play fighting, calling me names, snitching on me. But that was Calum. A goofy but deep down caring boy.
“As we got older and he matured, he would correct my mistakes, give me advice on things that were big to me at the time, but little to him because he knew there are better things to do in life than waste your time being upset or stressed. He did not care what anyone thought. If he wants to do something, he will do it, that’s how passionate he was.
“No matter what anyone says, that’s what inspires me. Calum would always make me laugh with his random noises or phrases he used to say and I loved that about him. We shared a good 15 and a half years together and I wish we had more.
“All my family and I can do is cherish and reflect on all those memories we shared, keep Calum with us in our hearts, and try heal and make Calum proud. Love Darcey x.”
