Family Mourns Loss of Ray Oliver, 20

PORTSMOUTH, RI—Though he was a man at 20-years-old, Raymond Oliver will always be his mother's baby boy.

"Not a moment will pass I will not miss you. Till we are together soon," Laura Oliver, his mother, wrote on a white cross that now rests against a tree on Turnpike Avenue in Portsmouth.

Raymond Oliver was earning money and delivering pizza to help pay for his classes at Bristol Community College Tuesday night when his car veered across the double yellow line and crashed into that tree.

Members of the Portsmouth Fire Department responded to the scene even before the first 911 call reported the crash; Lt. CJ Bowley and Firefighter Brendan Phelan were nearby in an ambulance when the crash happened. They radioed for backup. The fire chief and deputy chief responded from their homes.

Oliver was trapped inside the wrecked vehicle for 19 minutes as responders worked to free him. Firefighters called for a medical helicopter to respond to provide transport, but it was cancelled "because of the patient's condition and the rapidity of extrication operation," said Portsmouth Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael P. O'Brien.

Crews deployed every lifesaving technique they could and many of the firefighters in this close-knit community who were at the scene, parents themselves, knew the young man they were trying to save. Oliver was rushed to St. Anne's Hospital, the nearest medical facility, arriving nine minutes later. He was later pronounced dead, despite extraordinary efforts.

"The firefighters should take pride in their efforts despite this very sad outcome," O'Brien said. He also expressed condolences to the friends and family of Oliver who are shattered by the loss of a young man who had barely begun his adult life.

A family that has already carried the burden of tragedy. Oliver's four-year-old brother drowned in a pool in 2012.

His mother told WPRI that she is numb and just wants her son home and that the family will hold a vigil this weekend.

Oliver graduated Portsmouth High School in 2014.

Police said alcohol was not a factor in the crash and it is not clear why he lost control of his car.

Funeral services are to be announced.

A friend of the family has established a GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs.