Hannah Coan with her cousin Aimee Case

by Thom Morris

A lovely, kind, caring and sensitive girl – that's how family and friends will remember teenager Hannah Coan.

The 18-year-old from Dartford died last Wednesday after she was hit by a car on Friday, September 7.

She was on her way from her home in North Street to the nearby Circle C shop when she was hit on Heath Street, near the junction with Phoenix Place by a silver Mercedes Benz.

The former Wilmington Academy and The Brent Primary School pupil was running an errand for a friend when it happened.

Candles are lit in Central Park, Dartford for teenager Hannah Coan who was hit by a car

For the best part of a week she fought for her life but died from her injuries.
Since then, Hannah’s mum Sharon, 43, who lives with her partner Marc Colley, said the response from everyone had been fantastic.

Speaking from the family home, the mother-of-five said: “She was a lovable rogue. She had a hard exterior but was really soft on the inside. She was a very helpful person to her family and friends – any problems, she’d want to sort them out, in any way she could.

“She had a wicked sense of humour and was very loving. She loved her cousin Jessica and was always playing with her or babysitting. But she loved all of her cousins Sian (who has tattooed her foot in memory of Hannah, below), Aimee and Sophie and John, Michael, Kieran and Bradley.”

Tributes laid to teenager Hannah Coan

Bradley, 11, said: “I miss my cousin so much. It’s not the same without her. I wish she was back.”

Family and friends have rallied round to Sharon’s home including nan Glynis and aunties Teresa and Mel, leaving flowers and cards that have swamped the dining table.

On Saturday night, further tributes were paid when candles were lit in Central Park.

Lanterns were sent into the night sky while flowers, cards and candles sit beneath a tree where Hannah and her friends would sit and put the world to rights. A McDonald’s breakfast, one of her favourite foods, was also left for her.

Auntie Mel said: “She was brilliant when my children were younger. Hannah and her cousins grew up together and spent a lot of time together.

“My daughter Aimee is missing Hannah very much and the chats and jokes they shared on Facebook and on their Blackberries.

“We are all heartbroken over what has happened and life will never be the same again.

“She has left a huge gap and nothing will ever fill it.

“It will be very strange not seeing her or bumping into her in town and not having her knock at our door, or, as quite often, just come walking in.”

Hannah was taken to King’s College Hospital in London by ambulance after the incident which happened at about 6.30pm.

An air ambulance also attended and landed in Central Park. Heath Street was closed for more than six hours while officers from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit investigated.

"we are all heartbroken over what has happened and life will never be the same again" – hannah's auntie mel

The driver of the car stopped and is understood to be helping police with their inquiries.

Around her hospital bed, pictures of happier times were dotted around while cards, some handmade, were also taken up to show how loved she was.

Sharon continued: “The reaction from people in Dartford has been amazing; we’ve been stunned by it really.

“She’s got her own Facebook page where people have been leaving their memories and the memorial we had on Saturday in Central Park was lovely.

“There were over 100 people there, lots of school friends and family, you could really see how many people she knew.
“We can’t imagine her not being here anymore.”

Cards and flowers left at Sharon Coan's home in Dartford

Police have renewed their appeal for information and are particularly keen to speak to the driver of a dark car, possibly a Vauxhall Vectra or Insignia, who might have been in the area at the time of the collision.

Anyone with information should call police on 01622 798538.