Over £18,000 has been raised for a Manx teenager after he was seriously injured in a car crash.

Loghlin (Lockie) Kirk was driving on the road known as the Switchback, just outside Peel, when the crash occurred on Tuesday, January 11.

The 17-year-old received serious injuries as a result of the accident, and was flown off island to Aintree Hospital that evening to receive treatment for his injuries.

He was put into a medically induced coma and is now receiving treatment at the Walton Centre, where he remains - but he is ’making good progress’.

A Gofundme fundraiser was launched on January 27 by Melissa Menton, a family friend, raised over £11,000 in 24 hours.

When the Examiner went to press, this figure had hit £18,470.

Mrs Menton met Lockie’s mum, Lauren Kirk, through work, and set up the fundraiser to show how much people in the island had a desire to help.

She said: ’Lauren is so overwhelmed [by the response].

’The thing is with that family, they are the nicest family, and they would never ever ask for help.

’And you want to help, but you know they won’t ask or accept it.

’So I said well how would you feel if I set this up, because there’s a lot of people who want to show their support, they just don’t know how.

’We put it together and it just kind of went crazy.’

Reflecting on the massive response, Mrs Menton said: ’It’s shown how much the community really can come together when things like this do happen to people.

’It’s not something anyone ever really wants to be faced with, but it’s just nice to know that when these sorts of things happen, the Isle of Man community does really pull together to help and support people.’

Lockie’s dad Dan Kirk spoke to Manx Radio over the weekend, following the initial huge response, and said: ’It brings us to tears really when we think about the generosity of friends, family, total strangers, friends of Lockie’s.

’It really really has humbled us.

’The only way I can describe it is we really feel our heart is breaking, and it’s so heartwarming and it feels like we are getting repaired in some way with just the love and support we’re getting.

’Just the positivity people have, and the well wishing, it’s just been fantastic.’

The fundraiser has been set up to help support the family with any travel expenses, bills, and other expenses, that they incur while Lockie is away in hospital.

The description on the page says: ’Lauren and the family are overwhelmed with the support and kind messages they have received and are still receiving since the accident.

’If we can do anything at all to help and support them and to loosen any burden of financial worries/stress due to travel etc that would be the least we can do as a small community to help support such a lovely family.’

The Gofundme is still open and you can find it here: https://buff.ly/3KYfYGz