A student who was one of the lucky few to find a white Cadbury’s Creme Egg worth £200 has died months later after a ‘terrible accident’ on holiday.
Charlie Dunne, 18, was celebrating finishing his A-Levels with friends and family in north Devon when he suffered a devastating back injury that sparked a cardiac arrest.
Last Wednesday his family made the ‘impossible’ decision to turn off his life support after he failed to recover.
Charlie was a talented rugby player set to go to Birmingham City University to train to be a watchmaker and three people will have their lives ‘transformed’ because he was an organ donor, his headteacher said today.
Three days before he was fatally injured he enjoyed his leavers’ ball after finishing his exams at Aylesbury Grammar School.
In January he spoke to MailOnline about his joy at finding a white Creme Egg and how he planned to use the £200 towards a dream holiday before university.
Charlie Dunne, 18, was celebrating finishing his A-Levels with friends and family in North Devon when he suffered a devastating back injury and a cardiac arrest while on holiday
Paying tribute to the much-loved teenager his headteacher Mark Sturgeon told students today: ‘It is with great sadness that we have to share with you the news that Charlie Dunne, one of our Year 13 students in Denson House, has died after suffering a terrible accident on a beach in North Devon, whilst on holiday.
‘Charlie had recently completed his A levels. He attended the Leavers’ Ball on Sunday July 8 and then travelled to North Devon for a holiday with family and some friends.
‘Whilst on the beach Charlie suffered a terrible accident that left him with a catastrophic injury to his vertebrae causing spinal injury and cardiac arrest.
‘His family took the impossible decision to turn off the life support that had been assisting Charlie since the accident.
‘Charlie died on Wednesday evening, July 11. Charlie was registered as an organ donor and we know there were three people waiting to receive major organs from him.
‘There is some comfort in him living on in others and potentially transforming their lives.’
He added: ‘Charlie was lively, inquisitive, friendly and helpful young man.
‘He was always smiling, always happy and was well known across the whole school.
‘His impact on Denson House, on the rugby squad and his friends cannot be underestimated and our thoughts and support are with the family and the whole Aylesburian community’.
Aylesbury Rugby Club has also paid tribute to Mr Dunne.
‘Charlie played through every age group at Aylesbury RFC from U6 all the way through to colts and senior XVs,’ the club said.
‘The loss of Charlie has had a profound effect on everyone that knew him and our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this difficult time.
‘Rest in peace, Charlie. You’ll be forever missed.’
Charlie hit the headlines this year after finding a £200 white Cadbury’s Creme Egg in January.
He was on the way to a night out in Oxford with his friends when he stopped the taxi to nip into a nearby Co-op to pick up some sweet treats for the journey.
Charlie made the headlines after finding a rare white chocolate Creme Egg in the months before his death in north Devon
The student, who worked at Tesco at weekend, was over the moon to discover that the chocolate treat was one of Cadbury’s winning Creme Eggs, meaning he’d scooped £200.
Speaking to the MailOnline, Charlie said he was hoping to save the money or ‘put it towards a party holiday’ such as Magaluf in Majorca or Ayia Napa in Cyprus in the summer before he starts university.
‘It really made my night out’ Charlie said. ‘It meant I had a better, and more expensive, night! I spent about £100 more than I usually would.’
Charlie ate the egg straight away after snapping a picture of it.
He said: ‘I was pretty tipsy and didn’t think to savour it. It was delicious, much nicer than an normal creme egg, I’d buy it way more often if it was sold regularly.’
‘I’d seen the MailOnline article about the special creme eggs so I knew they were out there, but it was a one in a million chance so I didn’t ever expect to find one’.