Tributes to "incredible family man" and popular Derbyshire landscape gardener who died in car crash at the weekend

Jason ‘Jay’ Goodall, 38, was the passenger of a car involved in a crash on Saturday, July 8. His wife - Louise - was also in the car and was taken to hospital. The precise details of the tragic accident are as yet unknown with the family asking people not to speculate whilst enquiries are ongoing.

Rich, Jason’s brother, said the death had left ‘a huge hole in our hearts’ and the wider community.

Rich and Jason worked together as landscape gardeners for SG Gardening with almost 40 years experience between the pair of them. Their vans were often spotted in and around Chesterfield and Bolsover, where the two lived, with the brothers becoming well-known within the community.

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A fundraiser has been set up by Rich to support Jason’s family: his wife, Louise, and his two children Breydan, 13, and Shanaye, 11. Nearly £7,000 has been raised within the first three days with the money helping to pay for funeral costs and provide financial stability in the short-term.

Speaking to the Derbyshire Times, Rich said the support received had been ‘overwhelming’ for the whole family.

He said: “I knew he was popular but, looking at the comments on Facebook and all the support on the fundraiser, you just see how much he’s affected everyone’s lives. The support has been overwhelming.

“We made a promise a year ago that we would make sure each others families were fine if the worst happened. And if we made £500, £1,000 that would help but the support we have received is far beyond what I could ever have imagined.

“We’ve received incredible financial and emotional support and it’s made some of the worry go away just after the initial support. I don’t know if I can put into words how much we appreciate the support. We’ve had people offering flowers and it took me an hour to get through Morrisons just with so many people stopping me and offering support.”

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The ‘hard-working family man’ had devoted much of his life to his wife and two children: to such an extent that he was in the process of developing his house to create a dance room for Breydan and Shanaye after they had got involved and started competing. More latterly the youngsters had begun go-karting with their dad who would ‘do anything to make things possible’ for them.

Paying tribute to Jason, Rich said: “Everything he did revolved around his family.

“He was quite a big character, the life and soul of a party. Always the last person standing at a party and the guy that bar staff eventually had to shoo out - not because he was drunk, he very rarely drank - but just because wanted to make sure it kept going and make the most of those happy moments.

“Jay was always doing something for his kids. They loved dance and go-karting and he would do anything to make things possible for them. He’s extended his house to such a degree just to get a dance room for his kids.

“He has always been known for being such a genuine, nice guy – an incredible family man – and he would do anything for anyone. He was always there and (his death has) been so hard for a lot of people to process because he was always the person to help anyone out.”

Nearly two decades ago, when he was in his early 20s, Jason came down with meningitis twice in the space of around 18 months. The first time, viral meningitis, was shaken off after a week in hospital but about a year later he contracted bacterial meningitis which was initially put down to simply being a very bad headache. Ultimately he had to be rushed to hospital, after screaming that he had gone blind, and was placed in an induced coma for ten days. Ever dedicated to his work, however, Jason was back gardening as soon as he had re-learnt to walk.

Rich remarked his brother had “always been non-stop” and, just last month, was back to work within 24 hours of dropping a concrete post on his foot.

Reflecting on the impact that his brother has had on his life, Rich said the pair went through life together and it was the little things he’d miss the most - those daily phone calls, “just a quick one”, that always ended up being half an hour long.

Rich said: “One thing I’m going to miss is we were inseparable. I did everything through life with him, business and family, and even though we knew what we were doing we’d still ring each other and ask for advice. Every single night without fail I’d get four or five phone calls starting with “just a quick one” and he’d still be on the phone to you half an hour later and that is something that I’m going to hugely, hugely miss. Going forward I’ll take every memory with me. We’ve done so much and it’s so hard to put into words.”

Jason’s funeral will be held at Bolsover Methodist Church on Friday, July 21 at 2.15pm then on to Oxcroft Cemetery. A wake will follow at the Arkwright Centre with all who knew Jason encouraged to attend. Louise, Jason’s wife, has requested people wear an item of bottle green colour if possible - no matter how small an item - as it was the colours of the SG Gardening uniform and the clothes he was most seen in.

To donate to the fundraiser visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jason-rest-in-peace.