Ref. 30856-03THE family of Pinehurst Road crash victim Michael McCann have been overwhelmed by messages of sympathy and support as they keep a vigil by his bedside in intensive care.

"We have had so many phone calls to the hospital from people wanting to know how he is," said his sister Tina yesterday.

But she said that while they were warmed by the response to the crash, they were concerned that it was causing problems for the Great Western Hospital.

"The staff are fantastic but it is preventing them from concentrating on the patients," she said.

She appealed for friends and well-wishers to leave cards and notes at 156 Pinehurst Road where they would be forwarded to the family, rather than call the hospital.

Michael, 37, was critically injured in the crash which killed 19-year-old Matthew Styles.

Both men were rear seat passengers in a Ford Mondeo estate driven by Walcot man Gary Huckin, who is currently in custody and is due to appear at Swindon Crown Court on Monday charged with causing death by dangerous driving, leaving the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident.

Michael, whose condition is stable, had only just recovered from a motorbike crash about three weeks ago when he and Matthew are believed to have accepted a lift from Huckin.

The car collided with a tree at the top of Pinehurst Road just before midnight on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Michael's partner Diana Tearall, 30, and his brother and sisters were hoping and praying for his recovery.

"The doctors say that every day he is with us is a good day," said Tina.

"It is a waiting game and a praying game but he is a tough cookie."

She paid tribute to Ms Tearall, the mother of his children one of whom is only 10 weeks old.

"Diana is a saint," she said. "I think the thought of her and the children is helping to keep him going."

Tina described her brother as a "gentle giant," who had acted as the head of the family of two brothers and three sisters since the death of their mother three years ago.

Even though there was an age gap, Michael had been friends with Matthew for years.

"I think he knew Matthew since he was knee high,"said Tina. She was at the scene on Monday when at least 200 of the men's friends coned off the road near the site of the accident to pay their respects to Matthew and say prayers.

The mood of the moment caught her, as it did other watchers.

"I think it was fantastic that he was only 19 and yet he had affected so many people," she said.

Emotions ran high after the crash and, at one point, there was a disturbance when police attempted to disperse a crowd of youngsters near the crash site.

But Tina believed that people in the closely-knit community were calmer now.

"I think people have come to terms with the fact that Matthew is gone and there is nothing they can do about it," she said. "People wanted to get their hands on the driver but now they have accepted he is in custody."

Tina Clarke