Orla Wates, the daughter of British building tycoon Andrew Wates, was on a gap year before planning to start an anthropology degree at Durham University. She died in a motorbike accident on the Hà Giang Loop in Vietnam. According to major media, she was riding pillion on the back of a motorcycle when the driver lost control. She was thrown to the ground and then run over by an oncoming truck, causing extensive injuries. She was rushed to Hanoi's Việt Đức Friendship Hospital but died on Thursday last week. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.
Her organs were donated for transplants, saving the lives of five critically ill Vietnamese patients. Dr Dương Đức Hùng, director of Việt Đức University Hospital, stated that patients who received the transplanted organs were all recovering well. Andrew Wates and his wife Henrietta went to Vietnam following the tragedy and participated in an 'appreciation ceremony' at the hospital where Orla died. The event at Việt Đức Hospital was attended by members of Orla's family and Iain Frew, Britain's ambassador in Vietnam. Andrew Wates expressed gratitude to the medical team and said the family was keen for Orla to live on in Vietnam through the organ donations, adding they left with sad memories but hope for the patients' futures. Dr Dương Đức Hùng thanked the family for their humanitarian decision during profound grief.
I would like to really say thank you to the doctor and his team for doing such an amazing job for Orla. In this case, it wasn't to be but we know we were lucky enough to get here and see her. As you know, my wife and I were very, very keen in our family, very keen that Orla had lived on in Vietnam. We were lucky and privileged enough to see the patients today and we just wish them every success in their future.
Orla Wates's death is the second gap year tragedy to affect the Wates family. Her cousin William Wates was killed while travelling in Honduras in August 1996 at age 19. According to major media, William Wates was shot dead after being ambushed by bandits in a remote mountainous region near the Nicaraguan border. His body was found by peasants on a roadside with five gunshot wounds to the heart, head, and back, and his hands and legs bound. His pockets were turned inside out, and travellers' cheques, credit cards, and cash were missing. It is believed William Wates was robbed and killed by two Latin Americans who had been staying in the next room at a hotel in Danli.
William Wates had been travelling in South and Central America for four months after spending two months with a voluntary organisation in Ecuador. He was a pupil at Radley College and was due to study ancient history at Nottingham University. At the time of William's death, his father Andrew was chairman of Wates Leisure and director of Wates Building Group. Andrew Wates retired from the firm in 2010. After learning of his son's death, Andrew Wates hid the tragedy from employees as he hosted a garden party, then flew to Honduras to bring his son's body back.
From our perspective, absolutely what we wanted, and I know that's really, really what Orla wanted. So we leave Vietnam with very sad memories on the one hand but with much hope on the other.
The family founded the William Wates Memorial Trust, a charity that has raised millions to support projects helping disadvantaged children and young people. The trust organises an annual cycling event called Le Loop, which tackles the 21 stages of the Tour de France a week ahead of the event. Orla Wates was described as 'beautiful, independent and very funny' by major media.