Former head boy died after being hit by car as he walked on unlit road

A MUCH-LOVED young rugby player tragically died after he was struck by a car while walking along a road with no street lighting.

- ROBERT DALLING

An inquest at Pontypridd Coroner's Court heard Ceirion Galliers, from Abercanaid, Merthyr Tydfil, died at the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff, in July 2023 - just 11 days after he turned 18.

The inquest heard he died from injuries sustained in a crash days earlier, when he was hit by a vehicle on the A4060 northbound in Merthyr Tydfil.

Ceirion, who had been head boy at Afon Taf High School, had been on his first boys' holiday to Magaluf with his friends, and upon returning home on July 22, went out to Pentre-bach Labour Club with his family, where they enjoyed drinks together and played pool from about 2.30pm until 10pm.

The young man decided he wanted to go to his girlfriend Joanna Foley's house, and called her, asking her to pick him up. She set off to get him, but instead of waiting at an arranged spot, he decided to start walking along the A4060, a road that had no street lighting.

The teenager's mum, Lowri Galliers, said the family's lives had "changed completely" since the accident.