Jay Slater’s heartbroken loved ones have gathered to give the teenager the “send-off he deserves” at his funeral.
The 19-year-old from from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire in the UK vanished on June 17 while in Tenerife with friends.
After weeks of an intense and grueling search mission, Slater’s remains were discovered in a ravine on July 15 – almost a month after his disappearance – having fallen to his death.
Officials found human remains in the mountains near the village of Masca, which was just a 20-minute walk from the last location, where his phone had pinged on the Spanish island.
Slater’s distraught family held a funeral for the late boy in Accrington, Lancashire on Saturday (August 10).
The teen, who worked as an apprentice bricklayer, was described by his loved ones as a “loving son” and “cherished brother,” who enjoyed music and playing football, according to BBC.
“A loving son of Debbie and Warren, a cherished brother of Zak and brother-in-law of Jessica, a treasured grandson of Dawn, June, and the late Dougie, a much-loved nephew of Glen and Katie, a dear cousin of Maddie and Tillie and a loyal friend to many. Jay will be very sadly missed by all those who knew him,” they said, per Metro.
“After Jay left Rhyddings High School he went on to become an apprentice bricklayer with the PH Build group, a job he greatly enjoyed,” the family continued. “At the young age of five Jay started playing football for Huncoat United FC until the age of 17 and also did a few seasons with the Sunday team at St Joesph’s too. He also loved spending time chilling out with his friends.”
According to Express, the family asked more than 200 mourners to wear blue in Slater’s memory and to donate to LBT Global, an overseas crisis support charity that supported them through their heartache.
The outlet reported that the heartwarming poem “Time Will Ease the Hurt” by Bruce Wilmer, which talks about grieving and how it never really fades away, was also read out during the funeral.
“The sadness of the present days is locked and set in time, and moving to the future is a slow and painful climb. But all the feelings that are now so vivid and so real can’t hold their fresh intensity as time begins to heal,” the poem states.
“No wound so deep will ever go entirely away; yet every hurt becomes a little less from day to day. Nothing else can erase the painful imprints on your mind, but there are softer memories that time will let you find,” it continued. “Though your heart won’t let the sadness simply slide away, the echoes will diminish even though the memories stay.”
Before his death, Slater had been on his first holiday with his friends to attend the NRG music festival. He headed to a remote Airbnb with two older men and left the property the following morning.
He set off back to his own accommodation but never made it. The last report of his whereabouts came from a friend he rang stating that “he was lost in the mountains,” he was extremely thirsty and his phone was about to die.
A preliminary autopsy revealed heartbreaking details about the teen’s final moments and cause of death.
“The result of the preliminary autopsy points to the cause of death being a fall or plunge from height due to the broken bones he suffered,” a Civil Guard representative said, per Daily Mail.
An insider told the outlet that Slater’s family has found some “very small comfort” from the likelihood that his death had been instantaneous.
Our thoughts continue to be with Slater’s family and friends.