Devastated mum of man, 25, killed after a car ploughed into crowd on Christmas Day pays tribute to her ‘beautiful’ son
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THE devastated mother of a man killed after a car ploughed into a crowd on Christmas Day has paid tribute to her "beautiful" son. Aidan Chapman, 25, sadly passed away from his injuries on New Year's Eve following the fatal collision on Shaftesbury Avenue in central London.
![[The scene in central London following the horror crash]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image_ad07e8.png?strip=all&w=620)
Officers were called to the crash, which involved four pedestrians, at 12:45am after a Mercedes-Benz E-Class mounted the pavement and ploughed into a crowd. Aidan's mother Yasemin Akcajoca, 61, has now spoken out for the first time since the tragedy on Christmas Day.
![[Aidan Chapman, 25, passed away on New Year's Eve]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image_83efae.png?strip=all&w=564)
She said the family had all been together on Christmas Eve with friends who had flown in from Turkey and she had not wanted Aidan to leave. Revealing how events could have been "so different", she told Metro: "I did my best as a mother, I just wish I could have protected him. I didn’t want him to go out that night.
"I said "stay in with us"- he was only supposed to be gone two hours, but he has gone forever.". In the early hours of the morning, at around 4am, she recalled receiving a call from the hospital informing her that her son was in critical condition. She was then taken by police escort to the hospital, but the young man never regained consciousness.
His heartbroken mother detailed how she held his hand and spoke to him in those last days before he succumbed to his injuries. Describing him as her "best friend", Ms Akcajoca said his younger sister, 16, has been left equally devastated by the tragedy.
