Kentish Express Ashford & District
Charity gift in ferry worker’s memory
Collection by family of ferry tragedy bosun
The family of the late Mark Stanley handed over a cheque to the “guardian angels” of the RNLI at Dungeness as a fitting tribute to his memory.
Mr Stanley died in July, aged 58. He hit the national headlines as the assistant bosun on duty during the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in March 1987, which claimed the lives of 193 people.
He had been asleep in his bunk when the vessel left Zeebrugge harbour with its bow doors still open, and had his licence revoked in the wake of the incident, which was to haunt him for the rest of his life.
Last week his mother Ruth, sister Sarah and his brother Matt went to meet the volunteers at the Marsh lifeboat station to hand over a cheque of more than £800 raised by mourners at his funeral.
After the visit, the Stanley family described the importance of Dungeness to him, where he would spend hours in solitude at the beach.
In a statement the family said: “We would like to thank the huge circle of family and friends who attended [the service] to pay tribute to Mark’s life, and their contributions to the RNLI. As we are a family with a seafaring tradition in both the Merchant and Royal Navy, the RNLI has always been seen by us as our guardian angels. Never more so than at Zeebrugge.
“As the donations were made by Kent people, we thought it was only right that their generosity should benefit a local branch of such a fearless and brave organisation.
“Dungeness was Mark’s place of private solitude. On many occasions he was known to have sat alone on the beach looking out across the Channel with his own thoughts and reflections. One can only imagine his inner torment and sadness.
“He was a proud man, a brave man, he loved the sea. He sought his comfort from being close to the sea at Dungeness.
“He never spoke about his times spent in ‘his space’ there, or was ever asked about it, but if we have a place to give thanks to it is Dungeness.”