![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_NGR-010526-LEWISSMITH01.jpg\")
<\/p>\n“You were the glue that kept our family together, with a smile that lit up a thousand skies.”<\/p>\n
Lewis Smith, who died following a collision on the A1(M) near Chester-le-Street(Image: Durham Constabulary)<\/p>\n
Tributes have been paid to a “beautiful boy” with “a smile that lit up a thousand skies” who died following a collision on the A1(M). Lewis Smith had “his whole life ahead of him” and had returned from his first holiday without family days before being involved in a collision near Chester-le-Street<\/a> on Sunday evening (April 26).<\/p>\n The 20-year-old, from South Shields<\/a>, was a passenger in a Mercedes A Class which is believed to have struck the central reservation before coming to rest on its roof. Lewis sustained life-threatening injuries and was taken to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)<\/a> for treatment, but sadly died the following afternoon.<\/p>\n Today, his heartbroken family have paid a touching tribute to Lewis, describing him as their \u201cbeautiful, sparkly blue-eyed boy who had a great respect for everyone\u201d.They said: “We are heartbroken to say that Lewis sadly took his last breath at 3pm on Monday, April 27. Lewis, our beautiful, sparkly blue-eyed boy; you were your dad\u2019s sunnn, and your mam\u2019s voice of reason. You were the glue that kept our family together, with a smile that lit up a thousand skies.”He was a young lad, only aged 20, and had his whole life ahead of him. He already had a holiday booked for his 21st to Ibiza in July and had only been back home for a few days following his first holiday away without family before this tragedy struck. He was the best big brother to his little sister, Ezzy, best aunty Lew to his niece, Revada, and, although the youngest brother of Stephen and Ryan, he was definitely the wisest.”Lewis was a handsome young man with great respect for everyone. He had a heart of gold and wouldn\u2019t hesitate to help someone in need and would always put a smile of the faces of the people he was with. He was a well-known lad in South Shields as he had an excellent attitude and was polite and well-mannered around everyone he met.”He will be deeply missed by his dad (Smeg), mam, Kristen, his nine-year-old little sister, Esm\u00e9e, his two older brothers, Stephen and Ryan, his five-year-old niece, Revada, his grandparents, uncles and aunties, cousins, as well as all his friends and the people he knew.”We are all heartbroken and totally devastated by this loss. We all love you, son \u2013 you will be missed but never forgotten and will stay in our hearts and thoughts forever. Sleep tight our beautiful boy, may you rest in peace.”The collision took place at around 10.50pm on the northbound carriageway and did not involve any other vehicles. The driver, 20-year-old Jordan Orrock, sadly died at the scene. A second passenger, a man also aged 20, sustained serious injuries and was taken hospital for treatment.<\/p>\n Officers would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the collision, or anyone who may have dashcam footage of the vehicle prior to the incident. Anyone with any information should contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit by emailing sciu@durham.police.uk, or call 101 quoting incident number 516 of April 26.<\/p>\n Did you know you can make ChronicleLive a preferred source of North East news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information<\/a> about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our ChronicleLive Daily newsletter is free. You can sign up to receive it here<\/a>. It will keep you up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from the North East.<\/p>\n ChronicleLive is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our communities.<\/p>\n We have a number of communities to join, so you can choose which one you want to be part of and we’ll send you the latest news direct to your phone. You could even join them all!<\/p>\n To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press ‘join community’.<\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.<\/p>\n We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.<\/p>\n If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our privacy notice<\/a>.<\/p>\n Join the ChronicleLive Breaking News and Top Stories community<\/a><\/p>\n Join our Court & Crime community<\/a><\/p>\n Join the Things to do in Newcastle and the North East community<\/a><\/p>\n Join our Northumberland community<\/a><\/p>\n Join our County Durham community<\/a><\/p>\n Join our Sunderland community<\/a><\/p>\n Join our Great North Run community<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3_GettyImages-586113546jpgt.jpg\")
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