A FAMILY has pad tribute to a great-grandmother who was involved in a crash on the A12 and died in hospital.

Iris Hadden, 78, of Colchester, was in a car with four other members of her family when it overturned on Friday afternoon.

She was flown by air ambulance to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, suffering from multiple fractures.

However, Essex Police confirmed that she died at the hospital on Wednesday morning.

Her family have issued a statement saying: “Iris moved in with her daughter Jackie in 1987 due to ill health. She leaves behind two sisters, five children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren with two more on the way.

“Her favourite charity was Whispers, which helps children in Kenya. She loved crossword puzzles, jazz music and shopping.

“Iris was a very family-oriented person and she made the most of her family despite her disabilities. Iris always tried valiantly to make the best of a bad situation and she will be sorely missed by all her family.

“The family would like to express their heartfelt thanks to every person who stopped and assisted them at the scene of the crash and to all the emergency services, especially the air ambulance.”

The accident happened at 3.25pm on the northbound carriageway of the A12, near to the Marks Tey junction, and involved a single vehicle carrying four generations of the same family.

The four other people in the car, a grandmother, a mother and her two children, were taken to Colchester General Hospital with minor injuries and have been released.

One woman who was injured in the crash is recovering at home.

The road was closed until about 9.30pm that evening and the southbound carriageway was temporarily closed so that the air ambulance could land. The incident led to massive tailbacks on the busy road.

Pete Bumphrey, Colchester duty operations manager for the ambulance service, said: “It was reported that the car involved rolled over and when we arrived two adults and two children were out of the vehicle.

“However, one elderly woman with life-threatening injuries was still trapped. She was stabilised on the scene before being flown to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, by the helicopter.

“The other occupants were collared and boarded for suspected spinal injuries and taken to Colchester General Hospital for further care.”