Jordan Coppin, 18, centre, who has died following a car crash, with his brothers Adam, 20, left, and Lawrence, 22, right.

A HEARTBROKEN family has paid glowing tribute to a much loved son and brother with a “heart of gold” and a “brilliant sense of humour” who died following a car crash.

Jordan Coppin, centre right, with his twio brothers, mother Anne, and step father David Gooderham.

Jordan Coppin, 18, from Eye, passed away in hospital following an accident in Yaxley.

Last night his grieving mother, Anne, step father, David Gooderham, and brothers, Lawrence and Adam, paid moving tribute to the Diss High School student.

They described him as someone who was “full of life” and with a great deal of potential to fulfil his ambition of becoming a primary school teacher.

Lawrence, 22, a management consultant with Accenture in London, said: “It is difficult to sum up someone who has been in your life since you can first remember.

“However, Jordan was an amazing brother who was full of life, confident and who had a brilliant sense of humour, truly someone who had so much potential in life.

“He was loved by everyone who ever met him, and I would like to say how proud myself and Adam were of the man he was just becoming.

“He will always be in our hearts and minds and we look forward to seeing him again one day.

“Until then we intend to make him proud and enjoy our lives to the full, just how Jordan would have wanted us to.”

Jordan attended the sixth form at Diss High School, where he was studying classics, sociology and psychology. Before that he attended Hartismere School from the age of 11 to 16.

His mother said he hoped to become a primary school teacher and had a received a glowing report during a work placement at nearby Stoke Ash.

Ms Coppin, 53, of Magdalen Street, Eye, a senior project worker for homeless charity, Solo, said: “The headteacher said Jordan’s ability with children was something that couldn’t be taught. He was very good with children.

“He had a very, very close relationship with both his brothers. Him and Adam were like twins. I was proud to be his mum. He had a heart of gold and was always walking around with a smile on his face. He used to call me his ‘old dear’ in front of his friends, which I think he quite liked. He was extremely popular.

“He was interested in a lot of things, but he didn’t necessarily stick at it very long. If he tried his hand at something though he would normally excel.”

Ms Coppin said her son had a real head for figures and was also very fond of animals. “I’ve actually just bought him a little dog, a cross between a Jack Russell and a Dachshund,” she said. “He’d only just taken it out for its first walk.”

Jordan had just started a Sunday job at the local Co-op, while he also worked at the Cornwallis Country Hotel in nearby Brome, where his brother Adam, 20, is duty manager.

Dr Jan Hunt, headteacher at Diss High School, said Jordan would be sadly missed and that they had asked students to come up with suggestions of how he should be remembered.

“He was a very popular boy,” she said. “He was someone who always went around with a smile on his face. He was in line to get some good A-level results.

“He had a character that made people warm to him. Teachers liked him because he always actively participated in lessons and he was very popular with other students.

“He will be very, very sadly missed. We were all devastated to hear the news and there are a lot of people in the sixth form who are very upset.”

Jim McAtear, headteacher at Hartismere School, said: “It is heartbreaking to see anyone’s life end so young, particularly someone that we liked as much as we liked Jordan. Our heart goes out to his family, to his mum, dad and his two brothers.”

Jordan passed away in Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge on Wednesday morning following an accident at about 12.15am last Saturday on Castleton Way in Yaxley, about half a mile east of the junction with the A140.

The red Rover 214 he was driving left the road and collided with a hedgerow and a tree.

Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to contact PC Stephen Griggs at the Serious Collision Investigation Team at Suffolk Constabulary’s Martlesham Headquarters on 101.