BE MORE KIND TO EACH OTHER
Local pays tribute to CarolineFlack
Poignant local tributes have been paid following the tragic death of TV star Caroline Flack – reinforcing her final message to ‘be kind’.
The 40-year-old former Love Island presenter died on Saturday after taking her own life.
She had been due to stand trial next month accused of assaulting her boyfriend, tennis player Lewis Burton, in an early-morning altercation – a charge she denied.
Since the tragic news broke there has been a public outcry with celebrities and fans condemning press intrusion and calling for more regulation of the tabloids and social media after the troubled former X Factor host was vilified over the domestic assault allegation. Flack’s management company have also criticised prosecutors for pursuing her “show trial”, even after her partner said he did not support it.
East Kilbride security guard Graham McKay led local tributes to the star this week.
Sharing a photo with the Strictly Come Dancing winner from the show’s stadium tour, he posted: “This girl was one of the nicest, most down to earth people I had ever met. It just shows us you never know what’s going on behind a smile.
“Don’t go through hard times alone... you are never alone. We all need to talk more and tackle life together.”
Graham provided security for Caroline at the Glasgow Hydro event and told the News she was “so friendly”.
“I was doing security looking after her on one of her visits to Scotland for the Strictly Come Dancing tour”, he said.
“She was genuinly one of the nicest people I have ever met. She was bubbly and so friendly and so down to earth – just someone you would find yourself laughing with.
“She had said I must have loads of pics with celebrities and I said no, in fact it’s against security rules. She pulled out a selfie stick from her room and said ‘well I’m gonna be the first’ and put it on Twitter.
“The picture shows her cheeky personality.”
Graham, who runs British Championship Wrestling, was left devastated by the sudden death of his friend, former BCW wrestler Adrian
McCallum, aka Lionheart, last summer and dedicated a show to him.
He added: “I think the media and social media should be ashamed of themselves for basically breaking a nice normal girl down to the the point she thought this was her only option. No one deserves that kind of treatment in life, whether you are in the public eye or not.
“You don’t get a second chance at life so look after each other, treat people right and if you feel as if only have one option then you are very wrong because there are always people to speak to.
“Whether it’s friends or professionals no one would stand back and let people get to the point where they take their own life.”