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Balloons released in memory of three-year-old Iva Harper (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)
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Balloons released in memory of three-year-old Iva Harper
9:03am Thursday 1st October 2009
Friends of little Iva Harper who was killed with her grandmother in a car crash have released 30 pink balloons in her memory.
The children gathered at the three-year-old’s home in Amwell House, The Woodlands, Isleworth, on Tuesday, to coincide with her funeral in New Zealand.
About 30 boys and girls, along with their parents, then went to Iva’s favourite park - the Princess of Wales memorial playground in Hyde Park - for a special picnic. The group was made up of parents and children who knew Iva from playgroup, and Amwell House tenants.
Neighbour and family friend Sue Crabtree, 40, said they released pink balloons because it was Iva’s favourite colour.
She said: “All the children came round to Amwell House and we had juice and biscuits. We each had a balloon and counted to five, we released the balloons and shouted ‘Iva’.
“We wanted it to be something special, we wanted to release the balloons to recognise they were buried.”
She said neighbours in Amwell House, where Iva’s parents Jeff Harper and Lini Eades are due to return on October 10, sent tributes for the little girl and her grandmother Sera Eades’ funeral, held in Wellington, New Zealand, this week.
She added: “I got a text from Geoff Eades (Iva’s grandfather) saying he loved us all, and then I got a text at about 5am from Paul (Lini’s brother) to the girls in Amwell House saying there was possibly more than 500 people there and it couldn’t have gone more perfectly.
“There was a Fijian choir, we heard it was very beautiful.
“The members of Iva’s school did a poem, and we did a tribute and recorded it for our ‘Amwell angel’ for Iva.
“In New Zealand they new Sera but they didn’t know Iva as we did so we sent a tribute over to them.”
The family plan to hold a memorial service for Iva and her grandmother in the UK but have not yet fixed a date.
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Tribute: Friends release balloons in memory of Iva Harper, three, killed in a car crash in New Zealand
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