Hundreds mourn little Pearl who ‘filled lives with love’
A FATHER paid tribute to his one-year-old daughter at her funeral after carrying her white coffin in his arms.
Paul Black kissed his daughter’s coffin as he carried it into Jerusalem Baptist Church in Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, where hundreds of mourners waited to pay their respects to the little girl.
Pearl Melody Black died on Sunday, August 6, after a Range Rover rolled across a road and demolished a wall which fell onto her in Heolgerrig.
Her funeral took place on Friday, August 18, and was attended by hundreds of mourners who were dressed in black and wearing pink roses and pearls, as requested by her family.
Around 200 people had lined the streets as the little girl’s coffin was taken to the church in a white horse-drawn carriage from her home.
Her family, including mum Gemma, followed Mr Black into the church where they sang Jesus Loves Me and You Are My Sunshine.
During the service, Mr Black said: “Wow. Wow. So many people. So much love.
“There will not be one second of any day that I go through the rest of my miserable life that I do not think of her. The hole that she has left in our lives is immeasurable.”
Mr Black described his daughter as a “beautiful, funny, clever little girl”.
He said: “In the short time she was here, she filled our lives with love.
“How? How do you face it? How does any one person face the future without her?
“From the bottom of my heart I cannot thank you (enough) for being here. Seeing people line these streets made me feel so lucky.”
Following the service, the funeral procession made its way to Llwydcoed Crematorium in Aberdare.
The family previously paid tribute to Pearl. They said: “Pearl was every single star in every single sky, she was as bright as the stars, when she looked at you with those eyes and she would melt your heart.
“She was the reddest pearl in the ocean and the sweetest melody ever written.
“She was the greatest dancer and she has left a massive hole in our hearts, the world will be a darker place without her. She was the reason we all lived.”
Pearl died after an unattended Range Rover rolled down a driveway and into a wall, an inquest which opened at Aberdare Coroner’s Court last week was told.
The hearing was told that the hand brake of the car was “fully applied”.